The Rebellion
by Lady The Warrior
Summary: [On-Hiatus] "I didn't do it for him. " He told Thor, his jaded eyes fixing on him. He wanted Thor to understand, to know the truth that It was for their mother, his mother, Frigga. "No!" Thor cried as his brother closed his eyes. This time willingly gave up his soul to where it always belonged... darkness.(Starts throughout TTDW and continues the path to post-movie)
1. Part I : Crawling Shadows

"I didn't do it for him. " He told Thor, his jaded eyes fixing on him. He wanted Thor to understand, to know the truth that It was for their mother, _his_ mother, Frigga. "No!" Thor cried as his brother closed his eyes. This time willingly gave up his soul to where it always belonged... _darkness._

* * *

**Part I: Crawling Shadow**

It was cold. Not the delicate coldness that he always felt gracious in and not that kind of coldness, so peaceful when it was snowing in his homeland.

_Homeland._ The word seemed both funny and distasteful at the same time in his mouth. Or it might have been because of the curdled blood in his throat. The frigid, frozen blood that he had thought Jotuns never even had in their veins. _Jotun_: funny, back in the old day the word seemed so far away from him; so dreadful.

It was the time when he opened the door to his chambers at night, tiptoeing slowly into his room and looking around warily. Yes, it was so long ago… but the memories were still fresh at the back of his mind. He tried to use the spell his mother taught him. The spell of how to create a lighting ball in a dark place... So he wouldn't have to deal with the crawling shadows, lurking in the dark corners of his chamber. The light would scare them away, as his mother put it.

And then he remembered. He moved the glowing light green magical ball around the corners, searching for the monsters. When he found nothing, he let out a sigh of relief. He was safe now… for tonight. Then he ran to his bed, using his warm blanket to cover his always-frozen body, and he tried to sleep. Then something struck him. He had forgotten to look under the bed. What if the monster was lying under the bed, waiting for him to sleep and then jump at him? What if there was a huge Jotun under his bed…? And the stress of being attack by a monster made him forget how to create a glowing ball, and so he had to be silent and still the entire night, fearing to go to sleep because maybe the Jotun would come and kidnap him, taking him to the lands of ice. Where there's no light glowing and there's no sun shining to warm him. And he'll be frozen to death there.

He remembered, always these thoughts were haunting him at night. The thought of the monsters, the demons to come at him, and he wouldn't be powerful enough to fight them. But eventually sleep rubbed his eyes, and it was then when the nightmares came. And the nightmares were the unpleasant thoughts becoming his… reality.

But now… he grew to understand the glowing magical ball couldn't make the monsters go away. And even if it could, it would eradicate himself as well. Jotuns… monsters… nothing scared him now. Perhaps it didn't make any sense now. He always was one of them. One of the filthy creatures his fathe…no… Odin always said will die at the hand of a hero in the end. They will be cast out to cold rocks, choking on their blood and laughing maniacally. But then again… even when he was only a child, he thought, why in the Helheim do monsters laugh when they are defeated? Is it not because they think, they are replaceable, or do they simply laugh at their own fate, approving the Norns for the fine branches they have braided for them?

He smirked. With his eyes closed and his hands still clinging to the deep wound on his chest, the smirk widened into a grin. And then the grin turned to a laugh; loud maniacal laughter. It was painful, like a huge fire, burning inside his chest as his laughter turned to harsh coughs and choking blood. But it didn't stop him… he laughed and laughed until the laughs turned to tears, Tears that didn't escape his eyes.

Maybe he didn't have the power to let out his pain. Maybe he was afraid to confess how much he hated himself… For being a monster, for being unwanted, for being the cause of his mother's death… but he didn't cry like he should. He just… couldn't. He wasn't powerful enough for that. So he croaked his sorrow once again with a twisted smile. It was his fault he had started a fight he couldn't win.

Though in the end, he did one thing right. He got his revenge. He killed the monster who took the life of the only woman whose love he prized. And even if it meant nothing for her now, he felt revived for that.

"I didn't do it for him."

No, he didn't lie. It wasn't for Odin. The hatred for Odin inside his veins never surged out this easy. Even death couldn't wash away the pain that man caused him. And of course, he was never one for forgiveness. Loki couldn't even forgive himself, let alone the one who he was always trying to satisfy.

The pain inside his chest was getting numb. He knew what it meant. His time was over. What an adventure … what a pitiful life. As much as he hated it, He knew he'd never get the chance to undo what was already done. And although he claimed to be the god of tricks, he knew he could never trick… death.

So maybe now… now was the time to give up. Give his petty life to the cold hands of death. Colder than he already is… colder than he always was. Maybe in another world, he could be at peace. But no… who was he deceiving? A man like him, rest in peace? How could that even be possible… he was going to Hel… where his promised monsters were, waiting for him to join them so they could shatter his soul to pieces for the crimes he had done and the sins he had committed.

"Unwanted son of Odin… bastard son of Laufey… may your soul rot in Hel… Forever… "

The words leaving his dead lips seemed to slowly disappear into the thin air when he breathed his last.

* * *

"Oh… Svartalfheim, how I have missed you… "

A feminine voice echoed in the dark mountains, making the last word repeat a few times.

"Are you still haunting the dreams?"

The owner of the voice continued as her dark shape started to walk down the gray dead hills. A woman with long hair, black as midnight, and a tight leather suit of the same color jumped on the hard soil. Her narrowed brown eyes shifted around the hills. She was searching for something.

"Now… Where can I find him?" She muttered as she pushed her hand through her hair, which was dancing with the light wind blowing.

She started to walk slowly to the middle of the bare ground. It was nothing. All she could see was bare gray hills and eternal darkness. _This place hasn't changed a bit_, she thought.

So she put her hands to the side of her mouth, inhaled as deeply as she could, and shouted loudly. "Mare! Where in the Hel are you?" The only response was her own voice's reflection. "That bastard lied once again…" She trailed off when she saw something, between the splintered cliffs. "HA! I found you!" She walked faster and slowly started to break into a sprint towards the cliffs. "You little disgusting creature! You think you can deceive…?"She stopped, narrowing her eyes. "What… is… that…?" When she saw the body on the ground, she went to where she spotted it.

She bent and looked closely at the man's face. He looked incredibly pale and… in a way… blue. The woman looked around warily. No one was there. She looked back at the man.

"Oh, damn… what are you doing here?" Cautiously, she knelt next to him while drawing her hand to touch the man's chest to see if it was still beating, but she immediately stopped half way.

She pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear and then touched the man's pocket, checking if he was carrying any lethal weapon. She only found a dagger. She looked at its tip, which was glowing with sharpness. And then her eyes flicked to the man's face once again.

"What a frost giant is doing in this desert is beyond my curiosity…" She smirked. "Maybe he's dead…" She went off and slowly leaned against the body, putting the spike of the dagger near his neck in case he got up and tried to attack her.

Her face was just a mere inch away from his. "He's not breathing…" She started to lean back, but then she paused and stared at the man's face as a light smirk appeared on her lips. "How could a frost giant be this small?" She drew her hands up, and with the back of her hand, she touched his cheek. "So cold… such a waste to die in this dirt… "Her eyes glittered for the last time before she started to get up from the body. But when she felt a wave of cold air coming from the man, she flinched.

She glanced at the man. Maybe it was only her imagination… she had work to do. It wasn't the time to play around… but then again… if she was wrong and the mysterious man still lived… _oh_… she could never leave a poor soul behind like this. So she leaned closer again and gazed at his purplish lips.

"It seems like you're tricking me…" A second before, she was sure he wasn't breathing. But the cold air wasn't from the wind either. "Do you live or… not…" She whispered. "Shall we test that? "She leaned closer and brushed her lips against his. It only took her a few seconds.

No reaction. But she wasn't looking for any reaction. Just a slow cold breath escaped his lips and she was sure he was still alive. Something between a smile and a smirk appeared on her face as her eyes started to shine in joy. She looked down at the man's body. An open ugly wound was exposed on his chest… but it wasn't bleeding. The blood around his leather armor was rather coagulated.

"Hmm… interesting…" She wet her lips as she looked up at the solemnly non colored sky. "Thank you, Mare… it was incredibly kind of you to leave such a gift behind for me…" She held up her finger and creased her brow into a frown" Still it doesn't count for _that Thing_ you owe me, dwarf!" She spat before looking at the man again. "The gods were so kind to you as well, my lord… you're not going to Hel… not today," she said wryly as she started to pull the man to safety.

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**Author's note: Hey everyone, so this was an idea that happened to me when I was watching Thor:The Dark World for like fifteenth times and I just couldn't help it but to write and see where my mind will lead me throughout the whole idea.**

**Thanks to my dear friend and Beta-reader LoquaciousQuibbler**.

**Comments and Reviews are appreciated as always. Follow,Favorite and tell me what you think of it I will update this story as soon as I can ;)**


	2. Part II-I : Through The Shadows

**Part II: Through the shadows**

The sky blacked out as the stars turned into a thousand fireballs falling to the ground, to where he was standing. It wasn't a dream, it wasn't a nightmare, and he never believed it to exist. He was dead. Dead people didn't dream. It was Hel. The flying flames were glittering images in his crystal jaded blue-green eyes. This is where the real torture starts…

* * *

She looked at the man's bare skin in the dim light of the flames. She didn't know if it was a good idea to remove his leather breastplate in order to see the wound's condition or not… though the first thing she did after dragging him under a natural shelter was just that. Slowly she put aside the armory torso and looked at the open bloody wound on his chest. Her fingers slowly trailed over his skin, as she smiled faintly, admiring the firm abs under her fingertips.

Her smile didn't last when the sight of the wound caught her eyes again. She quirked her eyebrows and put her hands on the wound. A shade of light in the color of lavender appeared around her hands and slowly crawled down to her finger tips and crept to the wounds, forming three huge leeches.

She smirked at them and leaned back against a rock. Throwing a few arid sticks into the fire. She wasn't sure if warming a frost giant with fire was a good thing. In fact, she wasn't certain of anything now. All she knew was that she was supposed to take something from a dwarf dark elf. Instead she was sitting by the fire, next to an almost-dead man and waiting for him to wake up.

Maybe she wasn't that fond of the job anyway. She could always kill some time during the mission. Her eyes shifted to the man's face. His skin was a shade of light blue, and there were patterns on his forehead and around the eyes, running along to his abs and around his stomach. She had never seen a frost giant before, though spreading stories about them couldn't stay unheard.

Now His breaths were slow but steady and his chest was moving up and down noticeably. The wound on his chest was getting better as the slithering dark shadows on his chest sucked the blood, trying to stop it from bleeding further, and somehow stitching the wound.

She let out a sigh. _It was going to take a while._

* * *

Sorrow, grief, madness, misery and pain… but not the physical pain; it was that pain of losing something to oblivion, something valuable. Something important, something that once lost, you can never regain, ever again. That's what he felt. And words of the past echoed in the void surrounding him.

_Do the frost giants still live?_

_When I'm the king, I'll hunt the monster down._

_Am I cursed?_

_You're my son_

_What more than that?_

They say when you die, your whole life flashes before your eyes. In just mere seconds, you see everything: every word, every scene. The harsh ones hurt again; a thousand times more than the first time you heard them or brought them up to your tongue.

_I am the monster that parents tell their children about at night?_

_You are our son, Loki, and we… your family._

_Frigga is the reason you're alive and you'll never see her again._

_He's not my father._

_Then am I not your mother._

_You're… not._

The last words, the last one always hurt the most, those ones that could never be undone. He was willing to die after that. He didn't know if she suffered or not. They didn't tell him, and it was even worse than the torments he was given back at the Chitauri's residence. All in all he knew deep down, out of every other person, he was the one that caused the pain for those that truly loved him.

He closed his eyes as the fire balls filled the dark area around him. His body was getting warm, and he waited, he waited for the flames to embrace him… to melt his heartless figure in them. He waited for his retribution.

But nothing happened. In fact, the warmth was quite delicate… but the agonizing thoughts that burdened him with unbearable pain bound with physical pain. A pain he felt in his chest. A pain dragged him… drew him away out of that soundless space. This void that was driving him to insanity.

* * *

"You're lucky… "

Loki heard a voice. A whisper, sounding rather harsh and mocking, though caring. But above all, he felt the gravity under his body. He wasn't weightless anymore. He could feel the locked cage of the bony body around his soul, arresting him once again, binding him to the last place he wanted to be… to life.

"No..." He gasped weakly. "No!"

Her eyes widened as she looked at the struggling man on the ground. His eyes snapped open as he looked up, terrified, like a man starting from a nightmare. But no… it was like a man who had his eyes opened from a bad dream to another horrifying nightmare. It all made her confused.

She crawled closer but immediately jumped back when he got up and looked around abruptly. Instantly she snapped her fingers, and the slithering figures on the man's wound vanished.

"You're alive." She managed to smirk, though she was still confused by the man's strange behavior.

He tilted his head to the side and looked at her. His eyes were still widened, exposing two glowing red eyes. "What?" his voice was husky as he looked at her. She flinched at his expression. Twisted. A bit scared, a bit outraged, and a bit happy. She couldn't exactly put her finger on it.

"You're alive." She repeated dryly, glaring at the man who was now looking at the wound on his chest.

It was perfectly stitched. "It can't be… "He muttered, only to be cut off by the girl's sudden chuckles.

"Your sense of gratitude leaves me speechless, my lord." She said sarcastically, crossing her arms.

Loki glared at her coldly and then looked at his own bare skin. it took him a moment to realize he was half naked. His eyes searched for the leathery armor next to him on the ground. He grabbed the torso and started to put it on. His mind was still pacing back and forth. Why was he alive? It shouldn't have happened. It wasn't part of what he had planned. But then again, when had his plans ever worked properly?

He looked around, ignoring the girl completely; slowly the color of a normal Asgardian crawled back onto his body. He turned back to the girl and rose to one knee, then managed to stand on his feet. "Thor!" he called. "Jane?"

The girl raised her eyebrows as she threw some dirt on the flames to make them die down. She got up and walked closer to him, careful not to get too close to the man who had just used magic to look normal. "Looking for someone? "

"Where are they?" Loki snapped, frowning at the girl.

"Where are… who?" She asked wryly, only to be pushed roughly by the man against the rocky wall.

"Do you think you can play games with me? " He cried, his voice echoing in the hard walls of the small shelter. He didn't know the reason, but he was angry… no, beyond that; he was mad. Mad at himself. Mad that his plans failed once again.

The girl's eyes widened, but slowly they started to glow, and a wide smirked crept across her lips. She shrugged. " Oh, I don't know… I might…"

Loki looked at her a few seconds before wincing in anger and twisting the woman's arm. She let out a suffocating cry but then again broke into laughter.

"Right… you are stronger than you look." She snorted before the tip of a dagger pointed at her eye. She gulped, but the smirk on her lips stayed where it was.

"Tell me… where are they?" He said in a threatening tone.

To his surprise, the girl only started to giggle. He widened his eyes but then twisted her arm again, this time harder, and he pushed her face against the wall.

"Right … right… no need for all this violence. " She let out a breath. "When I found you here, there was no other bloody soul around, yes? You were dead and … "she paused before raising an eyebrow. " Blue… on the dirt, and I saved you… so how about a thanks?"

She felt the hands on her arm loosen a tad bit, and she was free to move. Slowly she turned around to look at the man behind her back.

His face was buried beneath his long raven hair as he took another step backward and looked dully at his hands. He didn't know what to feel: feel revived for being alive, or saddened because he had to still bear the burden of an unfair life? "Why?" His voice was more like a whisper, like he was talking to himself.

"Why what?" The girl said absentmindedly. When he didn't respond, she walked closer, rubbing her numb arm gently. "Why did I save your life? " She asked loudly.

He turned back. His now blue- green eyes were glittering, but the obvious frown on his brows made her unsure for the second time. Was he angry or sad?

"How dare you? " He took one step closer to her, his body tensed and his fists trembling in fury. "Do you not know who I am? "

The girl looked at his expression for a moment. Her brows creased. She searched for any threat from the man before her. Although he seemed to be a weird, suffering man at first glance, she wasn't naïve enough to believe he wasn't actually dangerous. Therefore she didn't break her eye contact as she took one step closer.

"I know not…"She said expressionlessly. " And I don't care… " She sneered this time as she walked past the man. She looked at the still colorless sky before looking back at the man again. "Though I don't do this stuff normally… the main reason I am here is because I'm looking for a dwarf… "She considered what she was saying. " An elf actually… his name's Mare. " She looked at the confused expression of the man. " I don't suppose you know him or… where he is, for that matter… anyway… "She bowed her head at the man before starting to step backward. " It was a pleasure meeting you. As much as I enjoy your company, I have a job to do," She said before walking away from him.

Loki stood there stunned for a few seconds. He looked at the dark haired girl and then turned his gaze to the supposed wound on his chest. He touched it gently… it still was a little sore, but nothing deadly or threatening. He started to walk as well, searching for a way out of this realm. As long as Thor and Jane were long gone, and there was no sign of Malekith or his army, then there was no reason for him to stay here much longer. He had to return…

But return… to where? He stopped mid-step. Why should he crawl back to Odin? This time he would have him sentenced to death. Now even Frigga wasn't there to intervene. But if he wasn't going back, what was he supposed to do? He couldn't stay here forever, and of course he still felt guilty and sorrowful, but he had too much pride to kill himself here… not after what had happened ….

His eyes returned to the mysterious woman who was walking slowly, far away from him. Maybe she knew a way out. Out of what… and where, Loki himself didn't know the answer.

"Have you not seen a boat?" He shouted to her retreating back.

The black haired girl turned around like she was waiting for him to say something. When she saw the raven haired man, she put her hands on her hips. "I don't know… maybe?" She smiled.

Loki smirked at the girl. She was amusing after all, and it made him forget about what had happened, even if it lasted only for a while.

"Hmm… I like your sense of humor, but, you see… "He looked around as he narrowed his eyes and took a step towards the girl. " I'm not in a good mood here, I've… just came back from the dead."

The girl looked him up and down before saying, "Oh, I can see that clearly…" A corner of her mouth went up in a form of a mocking smirk. " And remind me again who saved you from that?"

"You didn't!" Loki snapped, emphasizing each word hatefully. But instantly he drew back, shaking his head to come back to his senses. He knew this strategy wouldn't work. He was tired enough, and yelling at such a rude creature who obviously seemed to enjoy annoying him would drain him of that little energy he had in his veins. So he took a deep breath before smiling mischievously. "Alright… we assume you did that. I am merely asking a simple question, have you not seen a boat? "

The girl looked away from him, rubbing her jaw as she pretended that she was deep in thought. "You mean that small, pathetic boat that had Asgard's royal family's symbol on it?"

Loki nodded, not wanting to start another conversation with her.

"I think I saw that… "She grinned sheepishly. " Do you want to know where it is? "

"If you wish…" Loki gritted his teeth, holding himself back from jumping at the woman.

"Oh, my apologies… I really don't know where. "She smiled, but before Loki could take another step to her to rip her head off of her body, she wet her index finger and held it up. " You see, my lord… it's just … not in my nature to do favors… " She winked. " Especially two favors … in one day… and in a row. But I do something else!"

"And what would that be?!" Loki almost yelled at the woman, making her wince.

"I do deals." She folded her arms, smirking devilishly.

"You dare to deal with me?!" Loki said irritably. He was determined not to lose his temper again.

"It doesn't make any difference: I deal with anyone who's open for business."

"Name it woman!"

"I told you I was looking for someone named Mare. "

"Oh… " Loki's frown suddenly turned to an amused expression. " You mean the dwarf boyfriend of yours."

The girl didn't seem to care at all, and she only shrugged. "Put it as you like, I'll help you find your boat if you'll help me find my elf. "

"Sorry, I don't do elves. " Loki stepped back while smiling mischievously. "Besides, I thought you said you already know where my boat is."

"Oh well. " The girl smiled once again and shook her head before turning on her heels. "I didn't expect anything more from a Jotun, anyway." She muttered, then waved her hand as she started to walk in the opposite direction. "Good luck finding your boat, my lord. "

Loki creased his brows as he followed her with his gaze. He let out an angry breath and looked the other way. Who needed an annoying woman for help? He could find other ways to get out of here, if he wanted to.

The problem was that he had to lay low and keep hiding himself in case Malekith's soldiers were still wondering around. Now that he was alive, he wasn't going to act stupid and let himself die. He was too tired to use magic and still a little too wounded to use any other weapon. He crunched on the bare ground, looking carefully everywhere. Everything in this damned place was the same. He could never find the place where they had first landed, and without the boat, he knew he couldn't get out of this place. Unless…

Something struck him. The girl didn't look to be a dark elf: she was indeed a normal girl, not like Asgardian, with that shine and glamour. She was quite ordinary, much like Thor's Midgardian woman. Loki couldn't help but ask himself, how had that girl even gotten here? She might've known a passage… something. He got up and straightened his back. He stood above a high rocky hill. There was no sign of a living creature; not at all.

Further out on the landscape, seemingly miles away, Loki could see a forest. Dark black trees with their long branches braiding into each other exposed a land darker than the other parts. He wondered what could be in the dark forest of Svartalfheim ? Probably the worst.

He looked away, pushing the distracted thoughts out of his mind, following another path to find the boat. But the high pitched sound of a shriek made him stop dead where he was. He slowly turned around, knelt on the ground and narrowed his eyes.

Not a moment had passed when another wave of shrieks came from somewhere off to the side. He frowned deeply, swearing under his breath.

"That foolish woman… " He whispered inaudibly as he got to his feet.

* * *

**Thanks to those who read the first part, reviewed and followed and favorited. **

**Thanks to my lovely beta-reader LoquaciousQuibbler. **

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**Disclaimer: I own nothing except for the story plot and my OCs.**


	3. Part II-II : Through The Shadows

She glanced back behind her. The dark haired man was now far away from here. She could spot his shadowy figure climbing up a solemn hill. She rolled her eyes, "Remind me again, why did you help that Jotun?" She really didn't know where the boat that man had been referring to was, but still, it was enjoyable to taunt him a little. He seemed to be an interesting being. She smirked at the thought only to slightly quirk her eyebrows into a frown. Now was the time to concentrate on her task. She couldn't fail this mission. She had to find the dwarf elf as soon as possible and then make her way back; there was no time to play around.

Cautiously, she walked up a hard rock; her eyes glittered at the sight of a bushy dark forest about a mile ahead. She narrowed her brown eyes as she slowly bent at the waist. "Mare, you're hiding yourself from me?" She whispered under her breath. "Are you there?"

She stiffened slightly as she got back to her feet, her eyes flickering around warily. Reposefully, a sly smile crept on her face as she looked down at the ground beneath her feet. She straightened her tall, narrow figure, and she licked her lips hungrily. Then she took a long breath before sprinting down the gray hill. She flipped over the hill and landed on the ground at the bottom expertly.

Her head cast down as a slightly self-conscious smirk graced her lips. Intently she searched the area surrounding her. She couldn't help but grin mutinously at the sight of two dark elves raising weapon at her. She still didn't move a muscle, scanning their position carefully. There were more than two. She rolled her eyeballs. _Twelve._ Twelve dark creatures who all looked awfully alike, with deep black rounded eyes and narrowed long ears. Their entire bodies were covered with white metal armor to conceal their dark dusky skin. They were holding some strange weapon, something like a sort of firing gun.

One dark elf closed the distance with her as he pointed his weapon at her and said something in an odd language. Tentatively, she started to raise her hands, palms visible so they could see she wasn't carrying any weapons. Still, a devious smirk danced on her lips as she gazed at them. They were ready, ready to strike her down. _Good,_ she thought.

"Ahem…" She cleared her throat, her eyes still shifting between them, calculating their moves, trying to find a way to get through them, as always… negotiate. "Now… now… no need for violence, boys…" She sneered. "I am no threat here," She straightened her back as one of the elves walked to her, still pointing the weapon at her. " You see… the threat you seek is a _Jotun_ in disguise."

She idly flicked her left eyebrow as a gesture to point them in the right direction. She knew that _special word_ would distract their stupid minds easily.

The elf close to her stopped at her mention and looked to the direction she had shown them, the others following his eyes gropingly. She scoffed as she sidestepped to the closest elf and, without hesitation, she throttled the creature's neck and the sly smirk on her features turned to a smug grin.

Immediately the elf looked at her, swinging the weapon in his hands to attack her, but she was faster. She twirled the creature's arm and listened to a suffocated cry escape from the elf's mouth. Her eyes widened with a wild glint appearing in them. Discreetly, a dark purplish halo started to come to life in her right arm: the arm he was scrabbling at while her right hand squeezed his neck ruthlessly. The dark halo slowly crawled its way down her arm and made its way to her hand, and then it crawled on her palm and spread between her long fingers as she laced them harder around the creature's neck with pleasure.

The elf's white armory mask fell, revealing his dark features. His deep dark eyes were widening as the creature opened his mouth in an attempt to suck air as much as he could into his lungs, but the air way in his throat was being tightened every second by the woman's firm grasp. The creature's body moved spasmodically, kicking and shaking to free himself, but it was to no avail. She didn't let him go until the last trace of his soul left his filthy body.

By the time the dark halo engulfed the elf's body, she closed her eyes, inhaling deeply as she satisfied herself. She could feel it; the dark soul pumping through the veins of this creature was no longer his… it was going to be hers. It was floating to her body, blending in her own soul… and she was enjoying it. It was exhilarating… she felt revived, indulging. Her face lashed out into a savage grin.

The creature's dark face started to turn a dark shade of lavender as its dark eyes became white and the skin was going dry and crumpled. After a moment, the dark skin turned to dust, revealing only fresh, solemn wet flesh. She didn't stop even then, she squeezed harder, the flesh slowly turned colorless, exposing the man's bony scaffold. Now only a piece of seared bone was in her grasp instead of the man's neck.

But then the pleasure disappeared, replaced by something undesirable. Something that panicked her. A bittersweet taste of reality dragged her out of the disdainful pleasure she was drowning in. Her eyes snapped open to see the other eleven elves looking directly at her ferociously, pointing their weapons threateningly.

She had been lost deep in so much savoring, she utterly forgot about the others. Time was short, and the desire to take their lives starved her soul. She cocked her eyebrow and loosened her grip. Whatever she was now holding fell loosely to the soil ground. She took a quick scathing glance over her handiwork. The once-elf falling on her feet was now a scattered skeleton that was quickly decomposing, turning to nothing but dark dust.

She looked up again, throwing the others a deadly smirk. But before she could even flinch a muscle, she felt a sharp tenderness in her abdomen. She creased her eyebrows as she managed to roll her eyes to her own body. Her eyes widened. The color washed out of her face. Her breath caught in her throat. Softly, she traced her fingertips over her stomach. Serenely, she raised her fingertips before her face. She grimaced in shock.

It was blood. She shivered. _Blood_. She looked down at her stomach. It was rent with a gash, covered in… blood. And the twisted feeling… feeling vulnerable… feeling the pain. Her vision started to get blurry, _pain… pain… pain_… she repeated inwardly.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, something blew her backwards. She gave a grimace of agony as she once again glanced at her stomach. The wound was opened wide as the warm crimson liquid made its way out. The unbearable pain pervaded her body, and she gasped and gritted her teeth. All these mixing emotions inside her were bleeding out, and she couldn't stop it: _the wound, the blood, the pain_, it reminded her again... Vague images passed before her eyes. Rising flames, fire, blood and pain… undeniable eternal suffering, and all of it started with pain. She panted and looked at her hands now coated in blood. Her mind was spinning around, unable to focus on her surroundings. The visions didn't let her see the area around her; they dragged her down into nothingness. She was running. She had set her soul free, she had to run, she had to do something.

She closed her eyes, breathing heavily as she squeezed the wound on her stomach, trying to stand up, but something heavy dragged her down, draining her energy out… but now wasn't the time. She wasn't willing to let herself get lost to the unknown visions. She desperately tried to rise to her knee, but she couldn't. She was becoming weak… no… She had to let it all out.

She could feel the bitterness of the warm blood at the back of her throat. She gulped, the metallic taste filling her mouth as she inhaled deeply. She shrieked. A sharp piercing scream escaped her purplish lips. It was a gateway to push her through the cloudy unwelcome memories. The hurtful sentiments inside her dark soul. She screamed at the top of her lungs, letting the pain loose free.

* * *

Loki got to his feet when he heard another wave of shrieks coming from the east, where the woman had walked off to. The sound was too sharp and piercing, making him wince at it. It echoed like some kind of alarm between the broken cliffs and bare discolored hills.

It was her. Loki hadn't seen anyone else, and it hadn't been too long since they had separated. Something was terribly wrong. She might have encountered the dark elves, Malekith's soldiers or, in the worst case scenario, Malekith himself. He absolutely didn't appreciate some stranger's visit. For a moment, Loki resolved to go and check whether his theory was correct or not, but then he dissuaded himself.

Appraisingly he walked back to where he had seen the woman for the last time. Of course he didn't care about her health, he was just curious to know what was going on. Apparently the woman wasn't only touring in the damned place. She was looking for something, something that she risked getting attacked by. He didn't need to get involved with any conflict; he could only observe and gather information. It was better than walking around aimlessly, searching for a way out. And besides, he needed a distraction for his sullied dark thoughts and also time to restore his energy and magic. He got a chance to go with something subtler than his past agonizing memories.

His strides started to get faster as he ran in the direction he had heard the scream. Loki cast an invisibility spell on himself and slowly approached the area, the sound of the scream growing closer. He crouched on the ground and looked over a crooked cliff.

Some dark slime was flowing on the ground, spreading into branches forming some strange patterns. Loki quirked his eyebrows. This was weird. He quietly scooted behind the crooked sullen rock and peered over it. There were dead bodies on the ground. Dark elves' bodies. Some of them had been shattered as their guts could be seen all over the place, some were merely skeletons that seemed to have been buried under the ground for a long time. He leaned closer. What was going on?

Loki's eyes immediately shifted to the black haired woman. Her back was facing him, so he couldn't see her face. But from her tensed figure and her blood stained suit he could guess what was happening, though he wasn't too certain. "Interesting… " Loki smirked as he spotted six armed dark elves in front of her.

She pushed back her shoulders to stand straight. She had to overcome the pain. Even the scream couldn't help much; the suffering was still lingering in every bone in her body, every piece. The suffering was twirling inside her soul. It had to be stopped. Her cold gaze fell on each and every one of them.

The bitterness mixed with the horrifying agony she felt inside. She couldn't hide it anymore. It was written all over her face now. Signs of the charade and coolness were long gone.

_Six._ There were only six left to soothe her tortured soul. She was tormented, she was starved. The pain … just wouldn't go away by itself; she had to do something. She felt the warm substance still flowing out of her body. She felt drained.

Another shot. She fell backward once again. Trying to endure the pumping pain slithering in her body. Her eyes flashed in anger, and the crimson liquid kept coming. She rolled on the soil ground. It was _pathetic. Unacceptable_. Smoothly, she started to once again get up to one knee, slowly getting back to her feet.

Loki was observing the whole scene behind the cliff. It was even more entertaining than he had imagined. He loved seeing her struggle to get back to life. To fight. To not surrender. She seemed like some wounded, deranged animal, which was trying to stand and fight against the hunters trying to slay her down. The god of mischief narrowed his eyes as a mischievous smile crawled over his face. For some odd reason, he didn't feel lost at all. He had made up his mind, his head was always full of plans. If only this woman here could survive this, he would believe her worthy enough to accompany him and play a strong role in his plans.

Once again, he lay against the rock, as if he observed nothing more than a circus. _Could the deer survive the deadly claws of the jackals ?_ Loki was determined to watch and see it through to the end.

She took a few steps just to stumble forward, and then she stood still, closing her eyes and clenching her fist so hard that she felt her nails piercing her palms. Cautiously opening her eyes, she started to move her steps more carefully and when she could thoroughly balance herself, she broke into a sprint as she aimed at one of the remaining elves.

The woman in black pushed her heels against the uneven ground and jumped at the creatures, the dark purplish halo once again covering all of both her arms, crawling to the edge of her fingers. It smoothly formed a lance by the time she fell upon the creature's head, and she cleaved it in half, dooming the dark creature as its blood, which was a dark, gooey substance, spattered on the ground.

Five were left. She looked at them irritably. That wasn't satisfying: she still could feel the pain. She still could see her own blood. It wasn't enough. It rammed in her head. _Fire… fire…_ once again she closed her eyes. _Visions_. Visions she had sworn to forget, yet again they were storming in her head. She couldn't separate them from the reality before her. She couldn't see through them clearly; there were unrelated images.

First it was a wooden cabin in a forest… then it was a girl. Yes, she could see a girl. It was a little girl with blonde hair; she was running… she was playing around the house. Laughing… she could hear the little girl's laughing happily… and then it all changed. She could hear the little girl's laughter turn to screams, agonizing, hurt screams. She wished it would stop… she begged for it to stop.

She felt another shot. This time they had aimed for her arms, which were both covered with the magical dark halo. She looked at the arm dully. It still was glowing, but perhaps deeper and darker than before now. Her dark gaze traveled to the two elves standing close to each other. She didn't hesitate as she growled and ran to them. She whirled between the men and twisted their armed hands, making them fall to the ground.

Loki watched as the glowing purplish light crept from her arms to her feet and then the girl stomped as roughly as she could manage on both creatures' chests, crushing their ribs, turning them into dust. He frowned thoughtfully for a moment. It was a powerful magic. Out of every one Loki was the one to know where this dark energy came from. _Lost Shattered sentiment._ He whispered cheerfully.

She didn't give it another thought as she picked up one of the weapon and threw it as hard as she could to one of the creatures. The tip of the weapon pierced thoroughly into the elf's skull, as he fell on the ground. The other two stepped back hesitantly. But she wasn't going to give up soon. She could feel the fire surging into her veins. She could feel the pain from the inside. No, it wasn't from the wound on her stomach. No… not any more. It was something else, like someone was trying to stab her from the inside out.

Loki could feel it. The endeavoring, extremely dark magic, the dark hateful nimbus around her body. He wasn't sure how she managed to keep it hidden from him, but now she was exposing herself. She was _a beast._ The thought that he wasn't the only monster here brightened him. She looked like a perfect example of a killing machine. Loki wondered where exactly she had come from and what she wanted in Svartalfheim.

She raised both of her hands as the magical light started to glow darker. It was now more like a gruesome rampaging creature in her hands. It was alive, and slowly it took the form of some sort of snake. It flew swiftly to both the men, Coiled around their necks, and started to suffocate them. Maliciously … and painfully.

Loki's eyes wandered from the suffering creatures over to the woman. Now he could see her face. How stony and cold she looked. She was incredibly pale, like all the blood that had once been running through her veins had drained out. In the purplish light, the sharp curve of her thin face made her look like an undead creature. What creature she was, Loki was yet to find out, real soon.

She closed her eyes and smoothly moved her hands in circular patterns, stretching her hands. and now her fingers were forming a tight grip. Serenely, the hard and cold look on her face changed, and Loki could see a gratified smile appear on her face. Loki narrowed his eyes at her expression before once again looking at the creatures. Now they were only bare skeletons. He pursed his lips and started to rise from his position.

There was no pain. She let out a shuddering breath. The pain was fully gone. There were no visions. No blood, no fire. She felt relieved as she opened up her eyes. The magical dark figures instantly were vanished, leaving two pure dry skins falling on the ground.

A gleefully malicious smile ran over her lips as she looked at the bodies around her. Then absentmindedly, her fingers ran on her stomach. The blood was gone, the wound was healed. _She_ was alive. _Alive_…

"I'm impressed… "She heard an unfathomable voice coming from behind her, followed by a clap. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before turning.

"I didn't notice your presence, my lord." The woman considered stepping closer to the man, a cockiness now brightening her features.

Loki studied her expression. She wasn't pale anymore. All the sweat and blood was gone from her in an instant. But still the coldness of a killer could be seen in her glassy hazel eyes.

Loki raised his head and slowly walked forward until he stood directly in front of the woman, folding his hands behind his back. "What is your name?" he questioned her.

She tilted her head to the side carefully. "Hmm… not very gentlemanly. You ask my name before you give me yours? "

Loki chuckled darkly. His blue-green eyes fixed on the woman's brown ones. They were extremely deep and dark. He was beginning to like her.

"Loki. " He expressed coldly, and saw the girl's eyes widen before a brief flash of darkness stirred through them.

"Oh, my… this is truly interesting… " She muttered before bowing her head mockingly. " The name is Heidr… my dear lord." She looked up, holding up a finger. "May I ask you one question-?" She was cut off by Loki's growl.

"No! You may not… " He immediately broke into a smirk. " Not before I know more about you. "

She threw him a sly smile, her eyes glowing. "As you wish, my lord. "

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed this. **

**_Dear Isa_,**

** Thank you for your review and comment, I hope your question have been answered in this chapter although I think there is still more of this mysterious woman, it seems she can suck people's soul out of their body, feed from them... ow... creepy, isn't it? ****hehe ****and now Loki is planning something mischievous again, I wonder what it might be? Hmm...**

**I'd like to thank my dear beta reader _LoquaciousQuibbler, _she's just amazing please go check out her Avengers and Thor's FanFiction**

**And please leave me reviews and let me know what you think of this so far, first when I started this story I really had no idea where it will go, now I know and I'm completely sure of the direction but still, I'd be happy to hear your suggestions/comments/reviews/ideas over this story and I might consider them in my story as well ;)**

**So do not forget to follow/favorite and mostly review... **

**Thank You, See you in next chapter ;) **


	4. Part II-III : Through The Shadows

"Heidr…" Loki rubbed his jaw, pretending to be deep in thought. He glanced back at the black haired woman. "Such a menacing name, isn't it?" His eyes traveled to the slaughtered bodies on the ground, the slimy black liquid still slithering on the gray soil beneath their feet. "Does it represent what you are?" He taunted as he started to circle her.

A devious smirk ran on Heidr's features, a shade of shadow darkening the rims of her eyes. "And what am I exactly?" She stepped closer to the man, standing inches away from him, looking directly in his apathetic eyes. "A monster?" She grinned evilly, though Loki could see how slight irritation flashed through her eyes. "Just like you?"

He couldn't help but smirk at her rhetorical question. She knew what she was doing, and Loki started to like her. He eyed her closely before smiling rather wryly, "Then we have an agreement."

Heidr raised her eyebrow at his statement, slowly stepping back, crossing her arms. "Have I missed something?" She asked confusedly, "On what?"

"The deal," Loki tilted his head to the side, "Why? Has using so much magic to consume the lives of those dull creatures scrambled your brains?"

She chuckled darkly, glancing up at the man before her. "I see," She nodded. "And please tell me, my lord, what caused the sudden change in your decision?"

"You," Loki said without hesitation, making the dark haired girl stiffen a bit. "That was quite maleficent, what you did, don't you think?"

"Very well," Heidr scoffed and serenely walked past Loki, holding up her arm, "There, he is waiting."

Loki followed her gaze, slowly knitting his brows. "And my boat?"

She looked up at the man. "I suppose your boat is there as well." She shrugged, looking away from his gaze. "Mare has this weird propensity for collecting what isn't his." She continued.

Loki didn't respond. He knew she was just bluffing; she didn't know where the boat was. But he wasn't going to bother anyway. He had planned further in his mind, and for that quest he needed to figure out more about this woman. He needed to gain her trust. Therefore he simply nodded and looked back at the dark branches of trees forming a forest as they both started to walk among the bodies.

"Which realm have you come from?" Loki asked expectantly.

Heidr gave him a cavalier look as she walked casually alongside him. "I'm of nowhere and everywhere."

"What do you want from this elf?" Loki questioned her in a monotone voice.

"A thing he owes me." She didn't seem to care at all, smirking all the way.

"And what is that?" Loki asked, still folding his hands behind his back.

He glanced back at the girl only to see she had stopped a few feet away from him. Heidr closed her eyes, her arms falling loosely at her sides. "A gem," Her tone was close to whispering. Her eyes shot open and her face tensed as she opened her mouth, "Not an exact form of it, but a great source of power."

Loki stood in front of her, examining her every expression. He wondered why this power she was speaking of reminded him of the _Tesseract_. "What power does it hold?" He asked calmly, trying to cloak his curiosity.

Her face lashed out into a wicked grin, her eyes glowing in an utter excitement as she spread her arms, "An infinite … power." She said dramatically.

_Aether_. He wasn't sure of it but he could guess what power she was speaking of. It sure wasn't the Tesseract, for that was held in Asgard's weapon's vault. The only infinite power other than that was being held by dark elves, the Aether, the flowing crimson power, unlimited and invincible. Loki grew determined to test his theory as he slowly walked up to the woman, "Sounds intriguing." He smiled cunningly.

"More like…" Heidr stared at him, tilting her head, "Ambiguous." Her eyes looked dull, like her mind was elsewhere, but no … she was reading the man's hidden agenda behind every question.

Loki smirked wickedly. He was eager to see why this woman was searching for that kind of energy. She couldn't hope to control it. Either way, he was intrigued enough to follow her and attempt to fathom the purpose of her actions. "I'd like to see this uncanny source of power." He said nonchalantly.

"Yes… you will, real soon." She murmured bluntly. It seemed that all of a sudden she had lost the motivation in continuing their conversation. Heidr started to once again walk towards their destination, her veil of excitement was now replaced by one of coldness and a stern look.

"You should be more cautious, " She heard Loki hiss behind her, " There are sure to be more of Malekith's squadron around here. " She stopped, making Loki break into a mischievous look. He waited for her reaction.

"Malekith?" She faltered, not turning back. But Loki could see how tensed her slender body got. She turned back; pure confusion dominated her face as a dark shadow of an unknown source darkened her figure. Hesitantly, she glanced up, her eyes widening in dismay.

Loki frowned at her and immediately followed her gaze. Above them, a whirling hole had opened up, exhibiting an animated image of a dark, solemn world apart from what they were in. Loki gasped at the sight of it. He knew the world; he was once trapped in it: the void, the emptiness following it, and then this dark pathless universe. The Chitauris'.

He took a brief glance at Heidr. _Why was she trembling._ " The convergence… " Heidr stole her eyes away from the fathomless pit smoldering above them, " This is happening…"

Loki nodded, trying to focus. He attempted to stay calm. He wasn't sure if they had spotted him through this damned event, but it wasn't worth the risk to stay and find out what would come next. _No… now wasn't the time…_ the Chitauri couldn't ruin his plans, he couldn't fail again. This time, for his own sake. "The alignment of all realms, " He let out a shuddering breath.

"C'mon!" Heidr's scream snapped him to reality. He saw her start to run to the forest, now only a few feet away from both of them. He obliged, striding quickly behind her. Loki knew the alignment happening every 5,000 years could bring all the worlds together; of course it included the Chitauri's as well. How could he forget about that?

He wasn't a fool. After his failure on Midgard, they were determined to rip him apart.

_If you fail, there will be no realm, no barren moon, no crevice, where he cannot find you. You think you know pain? He will make you long for something sweet as pain._

He squeezed his eyes sharply, a shiver of frigidity running down his spine. He had thought it was over, that there would be nothing he could dread, but now… at the very moment he was trying to regain the courage, the long lost bravery, something like this happened. He gritted his teeth. Anger and frustration were always better than fear and vulnerability.

The colorless sky of Svartalfheim was now filled with enormous holes, each and every one of them sprouting up to lead a path to other realms. Loki held his breath and readjusted his gaze into the dark tangled branches. They were close.

"Why did you stop? " He asked, confused by Heidr's sudden apathetic expression.

"The forest, " She forced her eyes to look at him, " It's alive, the branches of the trees are made out of lonely tortured souls and your most feared nightmares …"She trailed off, glaring at the high branches as they braided into each other, mixing with the pitch black soil under their feet, "they'll rob your sanity…"

Loki looked down at the woman. She was scared, he could sense it. And for a brief second, maybe it delighted him. He eyed the dark forest again. Did it scare him? Should he even be scared, when he was the source of fear itself? He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting the agony out with a twisted chuckle, "Once you find them within yourself, there are no crawling shadows to be afraid of." He said mockingly, but did he even mean it? He wasn't sure. If passing through the most terrifying nightmares was meant to be a way for him to rise up again from the ashes, then so be it.

Heidr sneered behind him. He didn't know what he was dealing with. Little did she know even if he knew, he would go down to it anyway. Then she, too, followed his footsteps into the abyss.

* * *

The cold was howling among the high figures of the skeletal trees, along with the sound of a wounded owl, singing the anthem of the dead. As they moved forward, the trees seemed to wince back, opening up a pathway for them to pass through… and they were whispering obscurely. Loki concentrated to hear them properly, but no matter how much he tried, he couldn't understand even a single word.

Darkness in the forest was light enough. They simply could see their path; it was just a matter of _valiance_. Heidr kept her eyes focused as her eyesight started to get blurry. She shook her head, looking around warily when the dark figures started to form, surrounding her. There was a girl first. She could discern it from its small body. And then there, she saw another one, the shadow of a man, muscular and protective, his hands falling firmly on the little girl's slender shoulders. She flinched and shook her head again, blinking a few times, not wanting those memories to come alive, to haunt her. _These are just visions_. She reminded herself.

Coldness. Little did Loki know the huge figure appearing behind the mist wasn't a human. It was noticeably bigger, and he could see how its crimson eyes were glowing hungrily. He swallowed a knot in his throat and looked at his hand; it was turning blue. He felt as though his magic was being extracted out of his body. He felt exhausted. Loki's eyes widened once he looked back at the hulking figure. It wasn't there anymore. Loki stared, aghast, into the gloom. No one was there. He glanced again at his own hand, and it was still the color he had always known himself to be.

Heidr was shaking violently, and there was nothing she could do to stop it from happening. She knew this all was Mare's doing. That dwarf felt revived by scaring the most valorous people, bringing up their past memories in the shape of shadows, pushing them to the edge of madness. She recalled the only thing they needed to do was to stay in reality and not be swept away by the things they saw.

"Mare… " She said hoarsely before feeling a sharp pain in her stomach. Her eyes flew to her abdomen, and they slowly widened with panic. _No… no…_ this wasn't happening. Blood permeated her suit, the murky warm liquid she hardly dared to look at. She squeezed her eyes shut. _Keep focus, don't lose it_. She repeated. This is only a trick.

A few steps next to her, Loki was lost in oblivion, his eyes shifting from one shadow to another. _Paralyzed._ Loki felt he couldn't move another step, that his ankles were bound to the hard ground beneath his feet. A steady wind blew unceasingly against his body. He felt cold. _Cold_, he shouldn't have been bothered by frost. But now he was shivering and alongside the shivering, blurry shadows within his visions started to come to life. His surroundings were filled with bare ground, hard solid rocks, and the stars above him were glittering. He wasn't in the forest anymore. _Where was he?_

He tried to remember. The universe above his head was whirling and swinging and he felt pain in his head. He heard the whispers in his head, like someone was moving inside his brain, like someone tried to burst out of his skull, and he couldn't stop it. He tried desperately to stay cautious. He glanced around feeling nauseous.

_Pain, pain, pain…_

The voice in his head repeated, and he begged inwardly for it to stop. And then he felt a sharp spike penetrating through his skull, his eyes shot open with tears building inside them.

_No_

He breathed, blinking several times. _This is not real. No, this is not real._ He could taste the bitterness of the blood in his mouth as he dragged through the muck.

_Oh, trust me… This. Is. Real._

The mockingly familiar voice was followed by harsh laughter, and Loki could see the veiled creatures surrounding him, trying to push him down to his knees.

And he screamed in his own mind, _no, this was not rea_l, he kicked them in the face and in their filthy veils. _This is only a nightmare._

And the veils dropped for the first time, revealing the demons behind it. and it wretched his heart, tearing apart his soul when he saw the face behind the veil was no one except the twisted grin of a mad man. He blinked at that face, looking dully at it. How lost he looked in the mirror vision of his own face. _Was he finally losing what little sanity was left for him?_

_Crying_. An infant was crying, and Heidr wasn't sure if Loki could hear it or not. she just could see he was paler than before, looking around like a mad man, sweating while his eyes shifted on every shadow, every side of the forest. She didn't know if he could sense it, too. She knelt on the ground, pinching and digging her nails into the dark soil.

It was pumping, surging through every fiber of their existence, injecting the agonizing memories into their brains. She couldn't stand it. She felt a warm liquid falling on her cheeks. She breathed. She should've known better. The crying child was her most feared nightmare.

"Mare!" She covered her ears. The children's laughter, their cries, it all made her nauseous. Heidr squeezed her eyes shut. " Stop it!" as soon as the words left her mouth, she saw how she whimpered like a lonely, helpless child. But she couldn't cloak it anymore, _could she?_ " Mare! Stop this!" her voice reverberated through the unilluminated area, suffocating slowly in the black swamp whirling between the trees… and then

All of it vanished.

Loki shook his head, blinking a few times. He didn't know why he was staring dully at the shadows far away and why his eyes were wet with tears. He immediately blinked them away and started to get back to his feet, though his entire body was trembling like he had just woken up from a nightmare.

Heidr's fingertips traced over her leather suit. She felt like she had the worst hang over. The illusion was powerful enough to draw both of them into it.

Loki glanced back at the subtle face of the woman. "What happened?" his voice was dry. Heidr opened her mouth to answer, but at an echoing sound of high pitched laughter, both of them looked around at the black branches.

"Well done, you two… "A falsetto voice sang. " Well done!"

Out of nowhere behind the thick mist, a short man appeared. His skin was inky black and his long and ridiculously spikey hair was the color of blood. It glittered in the despondent space around them. His eyes were two utter black holes carved into his fatty face, and he had a remarkable nose. He had long, narrowed ears, and his bare skin was cloaked with a black cape.

"You bastard. " Heidr hissed irritably.

"I have to say, you have an extremely horrible taste in choosing men, " Loki whispered tauntingly in Heidr's ear, just to see the death glare she threw at him.

"Seriously? You've just woken up from the most horrible illusions, Loki!"

"Have I? " Loki raised both eyebrows before smirking in triumph. "I barely even noticed it." He abruptly pulled out his dagger and pointed to the dwarf before them. "Now pray tell if this clown really has your gem before I cut him limb from limb!" He whispered bitingly.

"Where is it?" Heidr walked up to stand right in front of the dwarf. "Because my _partner_ and I here are getting rather tired of your sickening games." She snickered over her shoulder just to see Loki was smirking at the _word_ as well.

"I don't have it… " The elf answered calmly, dangling up on a branch, "You silly girl, you thought you could even possess such power?!"

"You're in no place to tell me what I can or can't do!" She snapped before straightening calmly, "He wants it. " She paused. " And you promised you'll find it for me… " She clenched her jaw and slowly a dark shade of purple appeared around her arm. " Mare, don't tell me I have come all this way for nothing..."

"You dare to threaten me in my home?" He said before narrowing his nonexistent eyes, "tell me, Heidr, how you liked that pain?" Heidr tensed at his comment. The elf ran his hand through his red hair before his eyes shifted to Loki, who was standing behind her. "Looking for your boat, majesty? " He smirked slightly. "Or maybe something more?" Loki narrowed his eyes and was caught by the dark eyes of Heidr, she raised her glowing hand and looked at Mare sharply.

Mare took a few steps back, holding his hands up defensively. " Oh Heidr… you know you can't defeat the most powerful fear creator where he lives… " He licked his lips vaguely. " But I give you a chance to flee " He looked directly at Loki "Your boat is landed in the middle swamp of the forest. For getting there you need to have enough courage…" He started to laugh, " I want to see how the god of tricks will pass through my tricks. "

Loki smirked wickedly, "I would like to see how creative you can be, creature. "

The elf bowed his head mockingly, " I hope my games entertain you enough, your highness." Mare then quickly changed his position, his eyes fixing on Heidr's. "And you, dear, sweet Heidr, I suggest you bury yourself somewhere between your nightmares here, cause I don't see a fair fate for you when you leave this place." Heidr smirked, but this time even she couldn't cloak her nervousness. She bit down on her bottom lip and remembered how she felt defeated and alone earlier. This was not going to repeat. She felt tired from the amount of magic she had consumed, and it sickened her even more.

"Now… Let the game begin!" Mare announced loudly, his sharp voice exploding through the forest like some kind of game show host, and in the blink of an eye, he vanished into nothingness.

* * *

**_I hope you enjoyed !_**

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**_I quiet had problem with this chapter, because of the writer block, I had to force myself to write, soooo... I should thank my beta-reader and friend's help to make this chapter at least acceptable. I don't know... you guys should tell me how it was, so I'll wait for your review _**

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	5. Part II-IV : Through The Shadows

"Tell me, did you really think there was any hope for escape?"

The dark, hoarse voice echoed in between the inky black trees. Loki looked around warily. The dwarf elf was long gone, and there was no sign of him anywhere, yet the voice seemed so familiar that it sent chills down his spine. He raised his head, blinking a few times to perhaps see clearly through the shadows and find the source of the voice.

His mind started to pace, searching for answers. Who was it? He creased his brows. Where was he?

"How do you think you got here, runt?"

He knew the voice, yet he tried desperately not to believe that he truly knew the owner of the mocking voice. He felt his hands and feet were freezing; funny that he never felt the harshness of the cold before… at least not before he nearly died.

"You may be the master of lies and tricks, but you can never deceive us!"

The voice seemed like nails scratching a board. It hissed into Loki's brain and made him wince. He swallowed a knot in his throat. _It wasn't possible. No… no, they couldn't have…_

He tried to remember where he had been before he was here. How did he end up here? But it was blank. He couldn't remember, and it was painful… no matter how much he pushed himself to remember, he couldn't. In the depths of his mind, there was only a pitch black space, longing for an answer to fill it. Loki didn't close his eyes, though. He didn't blink. He didn't move. He just stared into the night forest, to see the shadows were slowly shifting to colors that could be recognized by his eyes. And then something happened in between all the fears and unanswered questions whirling in his mind. He felt a hole inside his chest. An empty hole that gave his soul an agonizing pain. A pain he had grown with, a pain he swore to forget. Sentiments… a person like himself didn't need them. They just made a man vulnerable and helpless and sorry… and he was none of those.

But it seemed like the lost feeling inside the empty hole didn't care at all about what his brain was shouting; they kept flowing into his veins, the memories, the reasons for his existence, the images he had buried away somewhere out of reach deep inside.

"I could've done it, father… for you! For all of us."

His voice was trembling and he could hear the beating sound of his own heart, echoing in his ears and down his throat, so loudly that he thought any time now, it might explode inside his chest.

And the old man he once called father didn't respond. His cold, bitter eyes were fixed on him, and he felt his heart sink and then it all went upside-down, and all the feelings he once cared about, love, family, protection and kindness, turned into ashes, and sank away… sank out of his soul and were replaced by hate… pure hatred. He didn't even care if it consumed him or destroyed him; he just wanted to drag all the ones he cared for down with him into the abyss. But he didn't… he just let go… maybe it was the best after all… for him… for all of them.

Loki shook his head. Why now… why here… he tried to focus, to push away the images filling his sight. He didn't want to remember them. He hated to remember himself so weak, a coward; He didn't want to remember himself as a child who prayed to be what Odin wished for. Was it courage to let his fingers slip from the spear? To fall? Was it audacity to take his own life because he simply didn't approve the fate the Norns had braided for him?

_Oh gods… how pathetic._

All the hatred, all the sadness, all the agony was surging out, and he couldn't stop it. He felt angry, he wanted revenge, he wanted to destroy the lives of those who took his own right to live, to rule.

"Pitiful. You weak little runt who couldn't stand still and fight against those who took your right!"

"Who is there?" He yelled in his mind. Words didn't seem to want to come out of his mouth easily. And he didn't blink. He gazed into the darkness and he waited. He waited for them to come. He wanted badly to tear them apart, and he didn't care this time if he had the power or not. He didn't care if he made them angry, if they tried to torture him again. No… no… he didn't care, he had nothing to lose now.

"Now we're here to take you with us! You, that have failed in a simple task: to take over the human's world!" The voice chuckled darkly, "You'll face his wrath, and when he presents you to _Death_, we will stand and laugh as you burn!"

_Good._

His smirk was soon wiped away by a strong force invading his chest. It was burning from the inside out, making him gasp for air… but there wasn't any. But he didn't scream, he didn't beg for it to stop, he had seen worse, he had felt worse, it was nothing, and he wasn't going to break so easily this time.

Instead, he started to laugh. He laughed and laughed and laughed, feeling his chest would melt now. His aching bittersweet laugh filled the void and pierced his heart, filling his own ears.

_ Let the **Fear** fear me._

"Let's see if you still laugh when he rips apart your chest and makes you watch while his brutal teeth penetrate into your black, pumping heart!"

_So be it._

The voice was getting closer now as the dim red light lit the way before his eyes, and he finally could see a veiled being walking to him. Loki grimaced inwardly. The other.

"The dwarf elf got what he wanted instead… he gave us what is ours!"

The creature shouted and stepped closer to him. But Loki didn't step back. He looked directly into his eyes. "You're not real." He whispered, finally remembering the answer and the reason he was here. It was all a trick. A trick he wasn't willing to fall for.

Though… whether a trick or not, he wasn't going to **_fall_** at all.

"You fool!"

He felt a cold hand throttling his throat, drawing him up from the ground below. Loki put his hands on the cold hands of the creature, trying to shove the creature back, but he didn't move. His face just a few inches away from his, looking directly into his eyes and laughing. The Laughter was keener than a dagger, piercing flesh and cutting deeper and deeper until it reached one's core.

"Is it real enough?"

Loki choked, relaxing the muscles of his tensed legs. His panicked expression suddenly loosed free, smiling deviously. "I don't threaten… "He spoke in a vicious whisper.

Silence. Loki felt the creature's grip loosened slightly around his throat, letting him fall to his knees. The Chitauri stepped back and Loki smiled when the creature started to disappear into the distant darkness of the fear forest. The black branches of the trees around him started to show their faces and the fog swirling mysteriously around him once again embraced his sight.

Loki got to his feet, looking around, making sure the creature (or more likely, the vision) had been long gone. Cautiously, he drew out his dagger and started to flip its hilt between his long fingers as he carefully put one foot in front of the other.

He couldn't see the boat, and he soon realized he had lost Heidr as well. The deafening silence was dubious. Either Heidr had been lost in her own nightmares or she had been killed. Such a waste... Now all Loki wanted was to find the boat and get out of this hellhole as soon as possible.

"Am I not real, either?"

A sharp tip pierced horridly in his back, thrust harshly down his spine. It didn't even give him the chance to turn around and face his opponent. Loki held his breath, feeling the unbearable pain injected into his flesh, and soon he stumbled to the ground, his face hit the inky muck brutally, making him open his mouth and gasp.

"Am I not?!"

The voice seemed frighteningly familiar. But Loki hadn't been given the time to think when his hair was pulled back roughly and he felt the cold tip of a sharp dagger slither across his throat.

His eyes widened when he saw the familiar symbol on the hilt of the dagger. How could it be possible? It was his own dagger. He looked back in his hands, there was nothing.

"I'm not letting you leave this forest as the man you've become!"

The voice yelled into his ears, making him confused. He tried to turn his neck to see the face of the attacker, but the man behind him had put all of his weight on his shoulder, not letting him even flinch a muscle.

"Who are you?" Loki managed to breathe.

"Of course you won't remember me…" The man said calmly this time, slowly getting up off Loki's shoulder, allowing him to let out a deep breath. His attacker walked to stand before him and stood straight in front of him, still holding the dagger threateningly.

Loki pushed his palm on the soil and carefully dragged his aching body up enough to be able to see the man's face. It was dark… so dark he couldn't see his surroundings… but it seemed a spot light had been placed on the man before him. Loki felt his head start to spin. Though it was just a trick… it was still a good trick, indeed.

"No... you'd forgotten me the moment you let your rage consume you." The young man, dressed in a black and green leather tunic, smirked. A mischievous smirk Loki was very familiar with, though the emerald eyes of the man shone as bright as an innocent child's into the dark forest.

Loki pushed himself into a sitting position. His back was still burning painfully, but he was more interested in the man, standing a few steps away from him. A light crooked smile on his features slowly widened into a twisted grin as he looked the young man in the eye. Now he remembered, he had known him for quite some time.

The man looked a few hundred years younger than Loki. He was pale, his straight black hair slicked back neatly and he wore a glorious leather tunic in black and green. It was always his favorite. His big jade eyes were glittering with a few tears ready to slip free down his cold cheeks and his narrowed jaw was trembling because of the fear as his thin pink lips desperately tried to form a word, to talk, yet he seemed too scared. It was quite amusing for Loki to watch him like that, yet at the same time… he felt _**disgust**_.

"I won't let you out! You were to die the moment you fell off the bridge! Yet you came back as the monster you are now! You are disgusting and pitiful," The young man spat, "You pathetic, filthy creature who let your own mother die…"

"I let her die?" Loki cut him off, holding up a finger, "It wasn't me who let her die! You know damn well as much as I do…" He got to his feet, groaning and rubbing his back, "And what if I became the man I am today! " He shouted and walked to the young Loki, smiling deviously.

The young Loki stepped back, his red rimmed eyes widened with fear. He held the dagger in front of his face, his hands shaking noticeably and his breath shuddering, but he was trying to stay calm.

Loki stopped when he saw his expression, looking confused but then a mocking smirk graced his lips. He raised both brows, "And you call me the pathetic one!" Once again he started to close the space between them, "You should be thankful that I have saved you from the scared little boy who had been living in the shades of his older brother's greatness!"

"I may have envied him sometimes, or… or disliked him, but I never meant to harm him or anyone else." His voice was shuddering as he took a deep breath, "I always feared this day, though." The young man smiled a bittersweet smile and let the tears roll on his face.

Loki stared at him widely. "There were many things you had feared, Loki." He whispered in a threatening tone. " You were blind! I opened your eyes to the harsh reality! And though it seemed painful at first, it won't be any more when I become the _**king**_…"

"And what then?" The young Loki yelled back, this time stepping forward while the tip of his dagger pointed directly at Loki's heart, "Get revenge?" He mocked, "Kill the ones you once cared for so much… " He gritted his teeth, " Bring the **_Ragnarok_**?!" He spread his armed hands, "Your only right was to die by the hands of those monsters!" Now he was only a few inches away from the stone faced man, looking directly into his own eyes, his tone filled with hatred and anger. He fixed his fingers around the hilt of the dagger, " The monsters, you have become one of them!" He screamed and in just a blink…

The sharp dagger pierced through the heart and the cold blood started to rush down to the ground. They both stayed there for a good moment, their faces blank, not letting slip even a single hint of emotion. They stared into each other's eyes, trying to understand. Trying to figure out the reason they were fighting.

"No… " Loki whispered into the young Loki's ear. " I have become worse." He said nonchalantly, shoving the young man's tall figure down to the ground. The man's face was wet with tears and he tried to breathe, his hands desperately trying to draw out the dagger deep inside his heart. His glittering eyes rolled on Loki for the last time and he mouthed something, something Loki didn't understand, or perhaps he didn't want to know.

By the time the dark swamp dragged the dead body into its core, the illusion fell and Loki's eyes fell on a small boat with a symbol of Asgard's royal family on its sail. He smiled and walked casually to the boat…

…Just as a high pitched sound of a shriek stopped him midstep. Loki turned around, cursing under his breath when he saw a slender figure, leaning against a tree.

Heidr's eyes were widening and she panted while she was looking around, horrified. Several scratches were exposed on her pale face, and she was whispering something. The whispers were quick and inaudible, but Loki could guess that she was trying wretchedly to cast a spell. Whatever she was seeing had drawn her to the edge of madness.

Loki seized her arms, but she started to scream like a wild street cat, piercing her nails into Loki's skin. He knew this much illusion could destroy someone strong even with full powerful sorcerer's abilities, but she had consumed her powers earlier, so it was easy for her to break. On the other hand, Loki's magic had been finally restored. That was the reason he felt so revived.

"No… " Heidr gasped beneath Loki's firm grip. " Don't… don't… please… please…please. "Tears seemed to be flowing nonstop.

"Snap out of it!" Loki yelled and pulled her closer, trying to drag her to the boat a few feet away before another illusion started to cast upon him. But she just made the movements impossible with all the screaming and kicking.

"It's all a trick, you insolent woman!" Loki snapped, but she didn't seem to listen, her eyes were shifting around between the trees.

"My baby… nononono… " Heidr squeezed her eyes shut and cried, " My baby… no!"

Loki let her go abruptly, and she fell to the muck, rolling on the ground while holding her stomach and crying. Disgusting. Loki thought. His eyes once again fell on the boat. He could easily let her die here but yet again, despite whatever she was facing now, Loki was sure she was useful for his further plans. He glanced at her hunched form again. She was sobbing in the dirt, not aware of her surroundings, and she seemed deep in pain.

Something struck him. Gingerly, Loki held out his dagger and looked at the brightened tip of it, then his eyes shifted on the woman. He smiled and knelt next to her, leaning closer, he pushed a strand of her dark hair behind her ear, stroking her cheek gently.

"I am your savior; I'm going to free you… " He whispered, and without a second thought, he thrust the dagger into the woman's side.

Heidr shivered abruptly and rolled on the ground, her eyes widening as she blinked a few times, looking at Loki's directly, " L-Loki… " She said quietly before her fingertips brushed over her side. She brought up her hands, looking confused. " B-Blood…"

"Yes, Blood!" Loki walked over her and shoved Heidr up to her feet, " I've found the boat. Time to go!" He said while dragging the still confused woman.

Heidr looked around absentmindedly, letting her feet follow Loki's towards the boat. Her brown eyes once again rolled over her blood stained black suit. Serenely, a faint smile appeared on her face " My… savior… " She whispered and got on the boat.

* * *

_End of Part II : Through the Shadows_

* * *

**_A/N: I see a pattern here... hmm... I may start use italic and bold words to pass on a message to you all, just take a look at those and tell me your guesses... I'll let you know the message by the end of part III _**

**_Favorite, follow and mostly review, please... don't break my heart _**

**_Special thanks to my dear friend LoquaciousQuibbler. _**

**_The title of Part II was inspired by the song " Through the Shadows" by the death metal band Insomnium_**

**_I don't own anything except for my mind and the wicked ideas _**

**_See ya all in next chapter guys and please review review and review thank you very much._**


	6. Part III-I : Of Damnation and Redemption

_**Part III: Of Damnation and Redemption**_

_Hell is empty and all the Devils are Here_

_-William Shakespear_

The solemn cloudy sky of London turned dark as the thousands of waves of red sands consuming their infinite energy from the Aether started to form around the dark elf king. Jane felt a shiver sent down her spine. Once again, she looked down at the transporting device in her hands. It seemed there was no stop to the whirling dark storm that was swallowing everything around it in an instant.

"C'mon Jane." Selvig tugged her jacket's sleeve, dragging her towards a valley. She abruptly ran before Selvig through the crashed cars and the shattered buildings, eyes focusing on the dark energy that was expanding its berth little by little.

"How do we stop this?" She felt her hands were freezing and her heart was pounding loudly inside her chest. She swallowed a knot in her throat and forced herself to tear her eyes away from the crimson whirlwind. "Where is Thor?" She asked worriedly, glancing around between the frightened crowds that were running, desperate to survive.

"I don't know," Selvig uttered. The older man's eyes shifted on the brunette who immediately tried to stray away from him, but he caught her by her arm and pulled her closer, "Don't worry, he'll be here." He said with an assuring tone, looking directly in the girl's eyes.

Jane nodded vaguely and gazed into the crowd before her eyes caught a glimpse of a red cape trailing along behind a muscular figure. "Thor!" She yelled, pulling herself out of Selvig's grip and running to the blonde, "We're too late."

Thor frowned and looked up at the not-so far whirlwind as Jane and Selvig stood at his sides. "The Convergence is at its peak." Selvig announced nervously, making Thor cringe. His eyes shifted from the devices in the man's hands to his face.

"Can those things stop him?"

"Not from here."

"We can't get close enough." Jane observed, her eyes rolling to read Thor's brooding expression. She gasped inwardly.

"I can." Thor stated firmly, taking the devices from Selvig and running to the whirl storm without hesitation. Jane's heart dropped as she saw the man sprinting away, yet she didn't argue. They had little time to stop Malekith from fulfilling his purpose and thriving the darkness in all nine realms.

She looked back at the beeping sound of her energy shifter device, checking the yellow spot moving fast. It disappeared suddenly at the center of the park; her eyes flickered on the whirling dark sands. She had to stop him; this was a huge risk, and there was no denying it… though she knew Thor wouldn't listen to her anyway. All she could do was pray for his success.

Her mind started to pace in between thoughts. The dark ones and the ones that made her feel revived. Everything's going to be fine. She encouraged herself, feeling her pumping heart coming up into her throat. "Please, please, please," She murmured, eyes still on the dark space that seemed to be never-ending to it.

She felt a comforting hand on her shoulder; she noticed Selvig, giving her a smile. She was happy she had the man next to her, and though perhaps it wasn't the right time to descry the older memory, she couldn't help but smile back at the man and ease into the thought of how he always was beside her, from the moment she lost her parents to the astonishing events that were happening right at the moment.

The beeping sound coming from the device drew her back to reality. Without a second thought, she rotated the screw, smiling faintly, looking once again at the crimson whirling space before her eyes.

Thor looked into the dark elf's eyes as he panted out of anger. Malekith's dark eyes started to get deepened when he realized he had just lost his two arms. "You think you can stop this?" The dark elf, held up his nonexistent arms as he gazed into the Aether energy surrounding him, "The Aether cannot be destroyed." He announced proudly.

Thor's fingers tightened around the only device left in his hand. He threw a death glare at the monster, "But you can." He exclaimed horridly, holding his free hand at his side, waiting for Mjolnir to fit in his grip as he started to walk towards Malekith, slowly hurtling while shouting in exasperation, he jumped, drawing his arms up above his head when Mjolnir perched into his hand. He finally got close enough to plant the spear looking device into the monster's black heart, and with a loud sound, the electricity around the hammer crushed Malekith, pinning him to his towering space-vessel.

The crimson dark whirlwind started to fade away, giving Jane enough view to observe how the dark elf had been defeated. She held the device in her hands tightly, her eyes fixing on the space ship. She rotated the screw for the last time at the loud beeping sound in her ears.

At the end… it was Malekith's cries in pain that had been muffled when he transported back to his dark home, Svartalfheim.

Jane looked solemnly at the wrecked towering space ship. The device was still in her shaking hands when she realized that it all was over. She shook her head and looked warily around in the hopes of seeing the sight of the hero, her hero. Her breath shuddered and the lump in her throat started to suffocate her when she didn't see the blonde anywhere.

Abruptly she let go of the device and ran to the center of the park, breathing heavily as she observed the havoc all around the area. On the grassy field between the decimated buildings, her eyes fell on him, falling seemingly unconscious to the ground. She stopped for a moment, not believing what her eyes were showing her. At a piercing sound, she held her breath and looked at the towering space-vessel, pinned to the ground below. but the higher stories were slowly breaking and falling loosely all around the place. She glanced back at the man, still not flinching even a muscle. No… she thought. What was she going to do?

"Thor!" She screamed, running to the man, "No…" She uttered under her breath, looking back at the falling metal pieces of the tower, now falling harshly to the ground, crashing everything on their way. Jane knelt next to Thor, pulling him to her side, trying to wake him up… but it was no use. Instantly, she got to her feet and tried to pull the man away, every second glancing up to see how the wrecked ship was falling apart. She pulled the god of thunder's arm, but he was too heavy to move by her delicate movement. Please Thor… please… wake up. She felt the tears start to build up in her eyes but she blinked them away, trying to be strong. However, it seemed not to matter.

"Jane!" She heard Selvig call, but she didn't care, still struggling to get the man away from the sight of the falling space ship. Desperately, for the last time, she looked at the falling remnants of the metal tower. It was close. Too close. She closed her eyes, knelt next to the god, and put her head on his chest, hugging him tightly. No, I won't let you go. She whispered inwardly. Remembering two years ago, when she first fell with the god, back then in New Mexico, she hadn't let go of him either even when everyone thought he was dead. She squeezed her eyes shut. If life didn't let us be together, I stay by you in death. She wanted to cry. She could feel the warm tears building up behind her eyelids, but it seemed her agony of not fulfilling a lifetime was too much for her to let her tears roll out and her emotions to show. She just loved Thor too much, too much to let any of this happen to him alone.

The wind blew in her face, making her dark brown hair dance all around. It was cold, but the man's body kept her warm. She breathed… breathed and tried to think of themselves somewhere far from here where nothing and no one could cause them despair or anguish.

She prepared herself for pain, for final crashing pain. But none came, and for a moment she thought she had gone into another world… but that was too bizarre for a scientific woman like herself to think of such fantasies.

Opening her trembling eyelids, her eyes met the light rays of the long lost sun, battling the cruel gray clouds and finally defeating them.

"Everybody okay?" It was Selvig's excited voice, making Jane to sit straight looking around in awe. She had survived. It was truly… over. She glanced at Selvig before looking back at the god. Her god… she could see how his eyelids were trembling, struggling to get him back to consciousness. She smiled and let out a sigh of relief, leaning her head on the man's firm chest once again. Thinking that still there was time for her… for them… to be happy. Even if everything had been completely broken.

* * *

"Sorry…" Jane smiled, seeing Thor flinch at the stinging antibiotics on his forehead's wound. They were sitting on the pair of wooden chairs on Jane's apartment balcony while the soothing breeze brushed over their faces, trying to comfort them of the havoc that happened not a half hour earlier.

Thor's azure eyes were focusing on the central park's fallen buildings, his mind clearly swirling somewhere else. Thankfully they managed to get away from there before Police arrived and questioned them about what had happened. Though during their ride to get to the apartment and even when they got there, Thor was uncharacteristically quiet, making Jane worry about his well-being.

"You're… okay?" Jane asked nonchalantly, tilting her head at the god who seemed to be deep in thought.

"I am…" Thor paused, not tearing his eyes away from the distance, "well."

She put the bloody gauze on the table next to them, folding her hands on her lap while gazing into the man's eyes. The weak half thriving rays of the setting sun had fallen upon the god's face, making him more majestic and beautiful than he already was. His manly features reminded Jane of a Greek god statue. But beneath all the majesty and might, Jane noticed a saddened broken hearted child.

His azure eyes were glittering, and she, only she could see how the man's firm jaw was trembling, like he was trying so hard not to break into tears. And why wouldn't he be? Jane asked herself while looking at the man she loved. He had just lost his mother, his brother, and the very home he had. He wasn't even sure if his father was going to forgive him for the treason he had committed.

She glanced in the direction of the setting sun and the colorful sky that surrounded it. light blue, lavender, crimson and gold. It was beautiful; she wondered if the colors reminded him of the rainbow bridge, of his home, or the ones he had loved and... Lost.

"I need to go back, Jane." Her mouth immediately closed when she heard Thor say it in a clearly annoyed tone. She glanced back at the man to see he was now looking directly into her eyes. "As much as I want to stay here… with you… I should go back. "

She creased her brow, drawing her hands to take Thor's. "I know …" She paused, thinking over the thought. She understood the pain of losing the ones you love, yet she didn't want to lose Thor, not again. "I know how you feel, Thor… trust me… but…" She swallowed the knot in her throat. She wasn't going to cry now. It was too soon. "You shouldn't blame yourself for any of this… I'm sorry about your mother and… and your brother… but there was nothing you could do, and not everything is your fault, you know." She smiled a saddened smile.

"You don't understand, Jane… I lost my mother, but it was not the only thing I had lost: I also lost her trust… "Thor cast down his head, obviously trying not to cry, "Loki sacrificed himself for me… it was a relief to see him back to light, to be himself once again. but I had failed mother's trust, " He murmured before looking once again at the woman he had fallen deeply in love with, his eyes now filled with tears. " I had promised her I would look after him… that I would bring him back… I…" he paused, shaking his head in disappointment. "I feel grief… in my heart, Jane… he didn't even have a proper ceremony… what he deserved as the prince of Asgard and as a true warrior."

Jane pushed her chair closer in front of the god. Their knees now touched as she held the man's huge palms in hers, caressing them calmly. "Everything will be fine… "She said the exact same words Eric used to give her when she missed her parents. And she meant it, every word. "Stay a little longer…" She closed the space between them.

"I promise I'll come back… soon." Thor leaned a little closer. Now their faces were inches apart. Jane searched his face, examining him like the scientist she was. And she finally found the traces of vividness starting to glow in the man's expression.

"Last time you promised me you'd come back it took you two years to show up…" her breath caught when Thor's nose almost touched hers. "I can't stand it… I'm not waiting for two more years for you to come back… this time you may never come back. Well, I mean, you sorta committed treason on our way out. your father will probably imprison you or- or …" She paused when Thor leaned closer, closing his eyes and brushing his lips gently on the girl's lips, slowly holding her in his arms and pulling her closer, deepening the kiss, this time more passionate than the last. She felt herself melt into the god's arms, slowly fading away.

"I will come back… you have my word, Jane Foster." Thor smiled at her before pulling her in for another kiss.

* * *

"With all due respect, _YOUR MAJESTY_, " Heidr gritted her teeth as she lay on her hale side, looking darkly at Loki, who was directing the ship high in the colorless sky of the dark world, " I don't know… if I should be grateful that you pulled me out of that horrible forest, or if I should be greatly irritated with you for thrusting a bloody dagger in my bloody side!" She nearly yelled when she saw Loki only shrugged and threw her an uncaring smirk.

"You should be grateful, witch. I saved your life." Loki said, looking beyond her as he searched for a special portal between the narrowed caves carved on the heart of spiky ugly mountains not so far ahead of them.

"Oh yes, " Heidr pushed herself up into a sitting position, her elbows settling calmly on her knees. She threw the dark haired man a crooked half-smile, "Such a gentleman, your highness, " Loki narrowed his eyes at her, looking threateningly into the woman's dark eyes, though she didn't seem to care at all. She continued, "The dark prince of Asgard, fallen from grace, cast out into the abyss, commanding an army to Midgard, trying to rule one pitiful world, but…" She held up a finger and tipped it towards the tense figure of the fallen prince, "He fails. " She shrugged and giggled at her own statement.

Loki glared at her, ready to explode. Instead, though, he tried to calm down. If anything, she was trying to make him lose his control. " Don't tempt me… " He raised his head haughtily, " How do you know it in all details ? Huh? Does the Mad Titan share all his concerns with his whores?" He spat hatefully.

"Hm… yes, as much as he shares with his playthings… " She rolled her eyes sarcastically, "Well, to be more specific… his god like frosty plaything!" She noticed Loki's grip tightened on the ship's wheel, slightly trembling in exasperation. She smirked slyly. "You know, I was there… " Loki's eyes widened, " I observed everything… "Serenely the smirk fell away from her face, cracking into a twisted, psychotic glare. " When he ripped off your skin and filled your throat with the burning magma," Loki slowly got on his feet, looking dangerously at Heidr, clenching his fist and throwing death glares at the woman,

"Shut up…" he uttered.

But she didn't stop. She didn't seem to want to stop. Her eyes focused on him as her mouth, her words tried to drag Loki's worst nightmares out to place them all before his eyes again. " When he pierced your black heart with the melted iron stake, burned you from the inside out… cut your body limb from limb… I was there … " She broke into a smile. Now Loki was only a few steps ahead of her.

"Shut your filthy mouth…"

"When you called desperately for your own brother to come and save you! Pathetic!" She spat the words, emphasizing each and every one of them, until Loki almost jumped at her, throttling her throat, rolling his dagger before her eyes. "Shut the hell up!" his eyes flickered, searching the woman's disturbed face. Heidr's smile soon faded when she felt she couldn't breathe anymore. She opened her mouth, her eyes rolling backward. She struggled to remain calm.

"I know how it is… to be torn apart and built up again… "She breathed viciously. " from the shattered soul, oh…. Trust me… he is the god… the one who created us again… look at us… " She whispered maliciously.

"Did he even give you payment for the fine services you afforded him?! You … loathsome… creature!" Loki snapped, squeezing her wounded side, causing her hot blood to flow out and coat his hand.

Heidr felt the unbearable pain spear through her entire body. She opened her mouth to cry, but she knew it was what he wanted; instead she bit her bottom lip so hard she felt the blood gush out brutally.

Loki looked at her closely. they were only inches apart and he could sense how her breath smelled like fresh blood. He looked at her crimson teeth… through all the pain, she still managed to smile at him. A twisted, sad, and dark smile. Who was she? Loki thought, feeling the hatred pumping in his veins. He let go of the woman's wounded side and pushed her to the edge of the boat, making her fall.

The upper half of her body dangled loosely over the edge for a brief moment, and Loki saw horror in her eyes. However, it was soon masked by a dull expression. "Let go of me, my lord," Her eyes rolled upward to the distant ground below, " It will be an honor to die by the hands of a man like you… "

"If I don't kill you here, he will… " Loki looked down at her, smiling wryly, " But no… he won't … he'd give the most undesirable sufferings, he'd break you in every way possible… " Heidr looked frightened, her eyes penetrating through his, " He'll make you beg and long for pain… you have failed, have you not?" Loki grinned, letting go of one of Heidr's ankles so that her body whacked mercilessly against the boat's body. "Where is the infinite power you promised to get for him? Huh? Where is it? " He hissed.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Heidr exclaimed loudly.

"Ohhh… You have no idea!" Loki laughed savagely.

"He'll destroy both of us! It'd be better if you throw yourself down here. We both seem to have failed…."

Loki brought up his dagger, cutting off her words, "Believe it or not… Thanos is nothing without those infinity stones!" he scoffed. " And I have not failed… I would never… but you here…"

"Then kill me already!" Heidr screamed dryly, interrupting him. And when Loki didn't respond, she lightened up, smiling. "But you wouldn't… why I wonder…?" She said wickedly, "What do you need me for, my lord?"

Loki raised an eyebrow, " I want you to follow my orders. "

Heidr broke into laughter, losing her breath, "Oh, and what would be in it for me if I do that?"

Loki smiled ferociously and slowly drew her back up on the boat. "Redemption."

Heidr looked at the man's expression. She desperately tried to read him, to see if he meant what he was saying… but then again, she didn't really care. She could feel the cold breath of the demon in disguise standing inches away from her. she smiled, looking directly in the man's eyes before leaning close and brushing her lips on his, dragging him into a hungry, depraved kiss. Loki instantly answered her quest with a harder push of his own lips on hers, forcing her into his grip mercilessly. She thought one or two of her spinal bones crashed beneath the god's arms.

"I could clearly see that coming…" She breathed lustfully before once again attacking the god of mischief's frozen lips.

* * *

**_I hope you enjoyed_**

**_Thanks to amazing LoquaciousQuibbler, you are truly wonderful my friend_**

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**_See you soon dears _**


	7. Part III-II: Of Damnation and Redemption

It was still dark. The weak light beams of an uprising sun slowly came forth over the gray, gloomy mountains, though no matter how much they tried to penetrate through the thick solemn clouds, the snow-filled grounds of the golden city were just too far for them to reach.

Another day had begun, for some to live and for others to survive. For some, a gift… and for a few, a curse had once again been humbly presented by Yggdrasil.

In the long, narrow halls of the palace, silence was ruling severely like a ruthless king. The only sound that was echoing between the marble walls was from steady footsteps of a woman that walked gracefully through the corridors.

She touched her golden gown, folding its top into her grip as she grimaced inwardly at the unpleasant thoughts that had been haunting her mind for a couple of days now. Nevertheless, all her fears and concerns were covered by her mask of calmness, cloaking her inner emotions perfectly, making it hard for others to read her expression, let alone realize the swirling storm of emotions in her mind. She was, after all, the queen… and a queen had to be strong.

No one was aware of how her heart was beating inside her chest, how she felt fear creeping on her skin like a dangerous, poisonous snake, and no one really knew how Frigga wanted to cry as she walked sternly through the empty halls to make her way to the healing room, where her beloved one was struggling against death.

A few servants bowed down as she passed by them to reach the golden double doors at the end of the hall. She paused, closing her eyes and breathing deeply. It took so much effort to swallow her tears and halt her heart from bursting out. Frigga noticed her hands were shaking, so she tightened her grip on her gown and, with her free hand, she finally swung the door open.

Her eyes fell upon a rather enormous bed at the center of the room. Its surroundings were covered by silken white curtains as a few healers, all dressed in long light blue dresses, were gathered around it. She felt her eyes getting warm and her hands began to freeze, her knees trembled in dolor and she stopped breathing for a moment. Still she started to make her way to the bed, but was cut short halfway by the sight of a red headed old woman coming to her.

The woman, dressed in a darker shade of blue than the others, had her long red hair braided into a French braid that fell on her left shoulder tidily. She bowed her head towards the queen, her expression a mixture of sadness and soberness. Still, she tried to greet the queen with a warm, assuring smile.

"My queen,"

"Eir," Frigga uttered her name under her breath as her eyes flickered between the woman and the bed, "How is he?" She asked firmly.

"Our healers seem to not have found the proper cure yet," Eir's announcement made the queen sigh in frustration, looking away from her, "But we have discovered the reason of his suffering."

"What is it?" Frigga tightened her knuckles, looking directly in Eir's eyes. Now the old woman could see how the queen's azure eyes were glittering with fresh tears.

"It is a soul sickness, my queen. The one who cast the spell on our prince intentionally aimed his soul to suffer. It is indeed a powerful spell; only the one who originally put the spell on him can undo it." Eir studied the queen's confused expression for a moment before casting down her eyes, "I am sorry, my lady, there is nothing we can do."

Frigga blinked the tears in her eyes away, her gaze directing back towards the bed, "We can't find the sorcerer… Heimdall cannot locate her… it seems the person who did this was no more than an evil spirit of Helheim- by gods, what will happen to my son? There have to be other ways!" She said in a whispering tone as a single tear dropped down her pale cheek, drifting down her narrow jaw.

"We must not lose hope, my queen," Eir answered in a hush tone.

"I want to see him." Frigga started for the bed, just to be stopped once again by Eir.

"Please, my queen," the redheaded woman pleaded, "It is not wise to see him in his condition."

"Why?" Concern colored the queen's voice as she tried to take another stride towards the bed behind the curtains.

Eir stepped in front of Frigga this time, hands folded on her gown, but eyes locking sternly on the queen's. "It is the skin." Frigga felt a lump in her throat; her jaw was now trembling noticeably. The veil was dropping and she could not hide her motherly feelings anymore. Eir continued, " The spell, it has dragged his soul to another dimension, another world. We do not know if it is a limbo or another realm such as Helheim… it has suited him ill," The queen gasped in horror, eyes widened with terror. "And… my queen, it has affected his physical body. The boy you seek, it's a shell; it has lost its youth, its delight."

"I shall see my son now." The queen pushed past Eir and pushed the curtains open-

The tears started to fall on Frigga's flushed cheek and she bit down on her lower lip at the sight of what she saw.

For a brief moment, she felt the whole world spinning around her head. She couldn't bear her weight anymore, and before she fell, the healers came to her aid, holding her arms and trying to drag her to a cushion to sit, but she refused them.

"My boy…" She fell to her knees, hands stretched towards the bed side, clutching the white sheets that were covering most of the boy's bare skin." My poor baby… "She whimpered and buried her face in the boy's thin shoulder.

There on the bed lay a small motionless figure. He had literally no flesh; it seemed like only a gray crumpled skin was covering a fragile skeleton. On the bed lay the raven haired boy, with no signs of life, though there were tubes and such attached to his thin arms, feeding him so he could survive a little longer, but still it seemed like his life, along with his glamour and beauty, had been hauled out of his body.

It was only three days, three days since the night that the younger prince had fallen ill and fever had taken over his body. The queen never thought it could be this horrific. It first started with harsh, painful coughs that made the boy vomit thick, clotted blood, and then he had finally fallen into a deep sleep. No one knew the reason of his disease… until now… Frigga was never one to wish ill fate on others, but this time… she felt so much pain in her heart, she couldn't stop herself from wishing whoever had put the spell on this innocent child would burn in the fires of Helheim for the rest of their miserable lives.

"Lady Frigga…" Serenely, Eir put her hands on the queen's shoulder, trying to draw her out of the room. "Please…" She whispered in the queen's ear.

Frigga stood on her feet and wiped her tears gently. Once again she swallowed the sadness blocking her airways. She drew her hands to softly touch the boy's bony hand. It scared her, somehow; the boy was now so frail and weak that the queen feared hurting him with merely touching his body.

"Whoever has done this-"

"My queen!"

Frigga and Eir turned their head at the young maiden's loud voice of worry.

"Why are you here?" Eir scolded the young woman, walking towards her to brush her out of the room.

"No, wait… please…" The young girl struggled between the guards and finally almost ran to the queen, "My queen… there is a girl- " She took a deep breath and looked back at the stunned face of the great healer, Eir.

"What about this girl?" Frigga strode up to the girl and put her hand on her shoulder. She looked in her eyes with a bittersweet yet heartwarming smile. "Tell me. "

The young maiden swallowed a knot in her throat, "She claims… she claims she can heal our prince."

~~~R~~~

Heidr couldn't divide her hatred and her love for this place. How she felt when she first put her step to this baneful palace. Forbidden… forbidden it was for her, just like what mother had said a thousand times. But by gods… how she wished, how she wanted to give whatever she had to enter this golden palace, to be a part of it, to be an Æsir. And although she had almost reached her everlasting wishes, it wasn't exactly what she had expected of her fate. But then again… it was life. And when did things ever go according to plans?

She shook her head empty of the rusty memories and focused on what she had to do when she entered the grand gates of the palace.

"Hmm… just like a snake, crawling in caves, waiting for their prey to come-" Heidr smiled playfully, "Extremely wise of you, my prince, though, wasn't Heimdall the eye and ear of your beloved non father?" Heidr teased Loki when both of them crawled into a dark crooked cave near the training field across the rainbow bridge.

Loki cocked his head to the side and looked at Heidr with an expression like he was staring at a witless being, " If you could ever shut up you would've known better-" he raised his hand and pointed at the light shade of the hollow around them. "Besides, Odin might've imprisoned him for the treason he committed, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't take precautions. "

"Oh, an invisibility spell… " Heidr gasped falsely. " I meant no disrespect… I mean, you were so thorough with your magic, even I didn't notice." She threw a smirk at the fallen god and shook her head at his creased brow, "Now, now, no need for frustration, just tell me what I shall do next. "

"Really, woman… " Loki rolled his eyes, "Have you any idea what I do with those who have a bigger mouth than me?"

"You strangle them? " Heidr raised both eyebrows at Loki's emotionless gaze. " Because that is … um… pretty obvious." She winked and licked her lips seductively.

"I should've killed you from the beginning. " Loki shook his head and looked away from her taunting face. Slowly he closed his eyes and moved his hands in circular patterns so a visual image of the inner parts of the castle appeared in front of their eyes, "Listen carefully; if you slip up even a little, you'll get caught. And I won't accept that. "

Heidr crossed her arms and gazed at the man next to her with a menacing smile, "I still don't understand how you can trust someone like me?" She reached for her black hair and brushed it out of her eyes, " I could just go straight to Allfather and inform him of how you're alive. "

"And what would you gain if you do that?" Loki raised a brow and slowly a smirk crept on his features, "You think they'd believe you? Believe a stranger with a hideously dark past? Tell me, Heidr, how many innocent lives have you taken? How many children have you murdered? Was your own child included as well? " Heidr cringed at Loki's last sentence, feeling the air around her become a suffocating space to breathe in, " How did you do it? With your bare hands? You dragged the life out of them? Were they screaming? Were they begging you to stop? Did you, Heidr? Did you stop?"

She felt her knuckles turn white with how hard she squeezed her fist in the dirt, her body trembling out of anger. If she wasn't so tired, she would definitely lash out in aggravation.

Loki noticed how tense her body became within seconds, and it made him smile in satisfaction, "The only thing you gain out of betrayal … is my wrath."

"Should I be scared now?" She finally relaxed a bit, leaning against a rock, " I won't betray you… " She said soberly, " and that's not because I'm scared, " she sneered, " After all… snakes were always my favorite."

Loki leered conceitedly and looked back again at the visual map of the palace, "Now that we've reached an understanding, when you enter the gates, I drop the invisibility illusion. That's when you need to show off some of your skills. "

Heidr quickened her strides as she walked past some guards and entered the golden gates. She was now on the outskirts of the main buildings of the palace. Cautiously, she crawled behind a column as she felt the invisibility illusion slowly drop off of her body.

She then immediately closed her eyes and whispered a few spells under her breath. A hollow in the color of bright lavender started to glow in her hands. It leisurely crept on her skin and took over her abdomen and lower body. Shortly after, her black tight leather tunic was replaced by the simple white gown, the same as the other servants.

Her straight dark hair was affected by the purplish glow as well, shifting into the color of shining gold. She smiled at her newly golden curls, how they fell loosely on her shoulders. So much like a goddess.

Her pale skin stayed the same while her cat-like deep brown eyes melted in a glowing bluish color. For a servant, you look stunning. She smiled at that thought-

Caw-Caw

Heidr turned so fast she felt her neck twist a bit and heard the sound of it cracking.

Caw-Caw

The raven on the godly statue in the halls made Heidr jump to her feet and look directly at its dark shape, huge wings. How its eyes were glowing deep and dark, like it was filled with an inky void. and how she hated it. Ravens… they were Odin's special servants, his eyes everywhere… everywhere, and she hated them.

Serenely, she moved out of the shadows, standing sternly before the immense raven. Its eyes were locked on her, and it spread its colossal wings in what might have been a warning sign for her to know it was no place for her. It was forbidden… forbidden. The word started to swing into her head and she felt an ambiguous wave of sickness coming at her. Just looking at that loathsome creature made her sick.

She moved her fingers, forming a tight fist as she drew her arm up at the raven, her brows creasing slowly and her body growing tense. For a second, she forgot where she was; nothing seemed to matter at the moment. All she wanted was the raven to melt before her eyes, to see it burn and suffer at her hands. And honestly… she didn't know where the urge was coming from. Wherever its source, she welcomed it warmly enough.

The raven started to flutter its black wings, ready to fly to inform the king or attack her with its hard beak, penetrate through her body and eat her heart out, but no… it kept on cawing, and she felt agonizing pain in her brain, in her chest, and abdomen and she felt sick… gods how the creature disgusted her.

She swung her wrist, eyes locked on the now-suffering creature. Yes, the spell was working. She could see the lavender hollow shine around the raven to strangle it, slowly and painfully… and how pleasuring was the thought of seeing others suffering, while you are revived by their torment-

"What are you doing here?"

Heidr turned on her heels, pushing her arm down to her side, realizing how she might've looked a few seconds ago. She wasn't going to get caught … no, not now. That would be hilariously disappointing.

The servant looked at her suspiciously, "I said, what were you doing?"

One last glance at the raven. But… it was gone. The harsh sound and weird feelings… just gone. She forced a smile on her new features.

"I…I… I'm sorry." She uttered, eyes cast down. "I was heading to the throne room; I need to see our king."

The other servant raised an eye brow, "Why?"

"I have news from the dark world, " she paused and then snickered, " The king should be reminded of the depth of his actions. "

"What?" The servant's brow furrowed, "Whatever you mean, just get back to your work." The servant turned back and started to the door.

"Don't turn your back on me." Her cold deadly tone made the servant stop and look over his shoulder with suspicion. " Do you not want to know how your dear Allfather is going to suffer for all he has done so far!" Heidr proclaimed gravely as she shoved the servant's shoulder to turn and look her in the eye. "First, " She held up a finger, " I'll cut his tongue, so he can't make any of his stupid, wasteful, kingly speeches, and then while he is struggling to talk, I'll hang him on Yggdrasil, drain the life out of his miserable centuries-old body, and then I will burn him till eternity. His soul will suffer till Ragnarok comes, and until then, he'll be torn apart by his own demons!" She spat every word hatefully as her manipulating, unnatural bluish eyes were still locked with the now horrified hazel eyes of the servant "Not only him… " She leaned against the servant's chest and whispered in his ear, " You all will burn, and I… will be watching. " She chuckled darkly as her hot breath danced on the young servant's neck. "Now, I would only speak to our king." Heidr said dryly.

The young servant stood dead-still on the spot, his mind seeming to be swirling somewhere now as he gazed upon Heidr's glassy eyes. He could see every vivid image of Heidr's words. He didn't know, though, why he couldn't move or flinch even a single muscle; it seemed like he was paralyzed as terror slowly started to force itself through his veins. His heart started to beat like a drum, and he wanted to flee, but he couldn't. It was like he was stuck in a horrifying nightmare.

"I could kill you, but… oh, well. " Heidr shrugged and deliberately walked past him. "You won't be remembering me." She whispered as she laid her index finger on her upper lip Shh and carefully opened another door to the halls, which lead to the throne room at the center of the palace, where Allfather was.

"How can you destroy some one's soul with just words? " Heidr could hear Loki's whisper in her ears clear as day, " With only a tone? How a look on the face can shatter an already cracked figure? " He chuckled mischievously. " I want to bring down the protector of all realms, the great Allfather, I want to humiliate him and drag him to the edge of madness. " His tone cracked a little, " His beloved wife is dead, his very own son has betrayed him, rebels rising from everywhere in the realms, peace gone; Hel's falling upon his head while he has lost his trustworthy gatekeeper, and enemies threatening from other realms. How much more can a man take?"

Her strides became stronger and with so much more effort when the illusion slowly changed her to a much bigger figure, mighty and powerful. A warrior indeed. She looked at her own reflection in the glassy walls of the grand hall. She looked like one of the Einherjars. Strong and majestic, in golden armor. One of the so called chivalrous men in all the nine realms. She smirked, but not the devious, sly smirk she usually wore in situations like these. It was the bittersweet, heartbroken smirk… not at her own image, but at the dark, black memory at the back of her mind. He was one of the Einherjars as well. The first and last man she ever fell in love with.

With the bows she gained from the two guards standing at both sides of the golden doors that led to the throne room, she walked towards the door and opened it with a hard push. There he was. Allfather. With all his glory, he looked old and tired and he had changed. He had changed from the last time Heidr had seen him. He was already falling apart. Was it because of Frigga? Or losing his two sons at the same moment? He was a lonely, broken man in Heidr's eyes. But of course, she was never one for compassion; especially for a man like Odin.

"Forgive me, my liege," She almost rushed to stand and bow at the King's foot. The old god's expression showed only sadness as he looked upon the now-disguised Heidr, " I've returned from the dark world with news."

"Thor?" Grief and sorrow of a broken heart were wavering in his voice.

Heidr shook her head, creasing her eyebrows slightly in an attempt to show nothing but concern, "There was no sign of Thor, or the weapon, but… "

"What?" Said the king abruptly.

"We found a body." the Einherjar cast down his eyes when the King whispered in a despondent tone, "Loki. " And for a second, Heidr felt the old man still cared. She smirked when the King turned to return to his own chambers, though it was too late now.

A flash of dark green shadow caught her eyes. It was moving fast between the columns. She smiled disdainfully and walked towards the king's chambers quietly.

"By the time he gets to his own chambers, he will barely be able to stand. He'll be too irritated to even realize how you've used your magic on him and how his life has been dragging out of his body the whole time he's been in the throne room with you. I don't want him to die; all he needs is a little push to OdinSleep. That is when my part begins."

Heidr stood. In front of her was the door leading to the king's chambers. She thought for a second, perhaps it was for the best to stay out, as Loki had ordered her to. But then again, she wasn't that fond of following Loki's orders. She could use this situation to her own advantage. Playing with the King before Loki arrived.

So she dropped the veil, exposing her tight tunic and dark hair, and swung the door open. The king was sitting on the side of his grand bed. His back faced her, and he seemed not to realize her presence in the room. His face, though, was buried in a silky golden gown.

Heidr raised her arms; dark shades of purple hollow rooting from her veins began to crawl through the air toward the man, embracing his still muscular figure. And she watched as the old god lay on the bed, eyes closed and the majestic golden gown still crinkled in his hands.

"I knew you'd come." The king whispered.

Heidr frowned and gritted her teeth, but then stopped dead when the fragrant scent spread all over the room. And it was familiar, it smelled like rare flowers. The flowers that only grew in the queen's garden. She felt her eyes getting wet when the king peacefully rested his head on the pillow and seemed to be falling into a deep sleep, and, oh… it ached, she could feel how her heart ached at how the man was peaceful. He didn't deserve it; he had caused pain to many. Laying this calm… waiting for his wife to come down from Valhalla and take him there was not something this man deserved.

She stepped forward and stood beside the bed, her face tensed in annoyance. She drew her arms up and whispered the spells loudly and severely so the hollow embracing the king became darker and darker.

"Now you'll taste the pain, old man-"

She felt a twitch in her stomach, drawing her back and away from the bed. She resisted and opened her eyes-

"What did I tell you?" A familiar voice echoed in her ears when the pain in her body got deeper and greater. She turned and looked at the man in green-black armor, a golden horn helmet on his head. He was holding Gungnir in his right hand while his left was moving frequently in particular patterns towards Heidr.

With Every twist of his wrist, she could feel the shooting pain all over her body and dragging her as far as possible from Odin, though when her eyes fell upon Loki's green ones, she smirked wryly, "Ha! I've just … had a bit of fun. " She groaned while chuckling.

"And I am having plenty, right now. " Loki responded rather dryly as he finally let her go. "Now leave, Heidr… while I'm still in the mood. "

Heidr grabbed her abdomen, looking at Loki with a twisted smile. Yet her eyes were glittering with tears. Was it for the physical pain he had caused her, or something else? She didn't have the ability to tell. So she stood and stumbled to the door before turning back and gazing at Loki's flat expression. Of course, he showed no emotion. but his eyes were fixed on the Allfather.

"He deserves the pain." She whispered, but Loki either didn't hear or he didn't care enough to respond as he remained quiet.

Heidr cocked an eyebrow and opened the door, her feet numb with how she was tortured within seconds. She walked out, and before closing the door, she watched how the doubled golden door closed roughly by Loki's magic and sealed.

She smiled a rather bittersweet smile and leaned against the door.

~~~R~~~

Frigga almost ran through the long corridor, following the young maiden's fast strides.

"Where is she?" She asked with concern.

"My lady… she is supposed to be-" The maiden stopped suddenly. " There."

She pointed to the end of the hall, where stood a little girl who seemed to be the same age as the queen's younger son. Her long straight raven hair was falling loosely on her shoulder and her waist. Although she seemed too small for her age, her dusky, ragged gray skirt and her black long sleeved shirt were too big for her to wear. Her face was buried behind her hair, but the queen could see how nervous she was from the way she was standing, her fingers entwined and sole tapping on the ground.

Frigga slowly passed by the maiden and walked towards the girl. She knelt in front of her so she could be at the same height as her. " Hello." The queen smiled and waited for the girl to lift up her head. But she could only see behind her hair that she chewed her bottom lip. "You know that no one can hurt you here, you are under my protection, dear. " Her voice seemed like a peaceful melody in her ears. "You can help my son?" The queen asked sadly, "He is very sick."

The girl nodded her head, finally speaking in a really rather quiet voice, " I-I can help him."

"Can you remove the spell? "

The girl nodded her head again, still not looking in Frigga's eyes, " Y-yes."

And then Frigga put her hand on the little girl's shoulder. How warm she felt, how she smelt, like flowers, rare flowers. She had never smelt something as fragrant as her.

"What is your name, beautiful maiden?" Asked the queen in a motherly tone.

She finally lifted up her head. Her innocent dark brown eyes shone with tears, "Heidr." She said, smiling chastely at the queen.

* * *

_Uh-oh this is getting serious guys! really trust me I'm writing this and every step I take, every move I make towards the end of it, it surprises me, I mean EVEN ME! so I really like to know what you think of it so far, cause truly I've never been this motivated in my life thanks to my awesome friend and beta reader LoquaciousQuibbler so I want to know what your idea, your opinion is, hmm ? so let me know, I wouldn't bite I promise ehehe any way so now we have Heidr having some acquaintance with Loki since childhood and then we have Loki being a vengeful god he is and then Odin at the edge of death? soooooooo what will happen next ?_

_Like last night I was reading this awesome short story from Norse Mythology and the interesting thing was... well you know Heidr was the name of a powerful sorcerer in Norse Mythology and apparently she was from nowhere and she traveled between realms and taught the _knowledge_ of Seidr to women cause evidently sorcery was a thing only women did and wasn't quiet manly and that is why Loki wasn't exactly a likable guy/god among the Aesir, any way it was quiet funny how I didn't know about this history of Heidr and Norse Mythology and then it turned out I am going along the lines of the mythology *gasps* wow I am proud of myself haha_

_Okay I think I am officially rambling now haha hope you enjoyed and again... guys c'mon don't be this cruel to me I mean what have I ever done to youuuuuuuuu?! I mean for the sake of Loki! cause he's becoming so evil in this fanfiction, leave a review and or a comment or whatever necessary just leave me something, ok? okay ? okay ?_

_Thank you!_

_Favorite and Follow, Loki and Heidr love ya! ( It quiet had a rhythm, huh ?)_

_See you in next chapter ;)_


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